ADP: -84k Jobs Lost In December, Least Loss Since March 2008. Official BLS Jobs Report Friday
Today, ADP, a provider of payroll services to 22 million Americans employed in the private sector, released their monthly jobs data which showed that the economy lost -84k jobs in December. This was a bit worse than expected, but the November number was revised better from -169k to -145k. Although overall economic activity is stabilizing and this was the least amount of job losses reported by ADP since March 2008, employment usually trails economic activity, so it is likely to decline for at least a few more months. This slowing of job losses will be confirmed Friday when the official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report comes out Friday. You can view previous months of both reports by clicking the ADP and BLS tags below, and you can also scroll to our data section to review current and historical jobs data.
After reporting numbers way under official BLS numbers throughout 2008, ADP reports started tracking closer to the official government jobs report produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics later in 2009. But ADP is not totally reliable since for example the BLS report for November showed 11k jobs lost and the (original) ADP November number was -169k. The jobs report has a large impact on markets, and mortgage rates always move on this report since it’s such a broad measure of the economy, covering consumer strength, unemployment and wage inflation. Rates are still holding within .25% of the lowest levels since 1971—the lowest on official record. More details from the ADP report below:
Additional ADP December Jobs Report Data
Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, saw employment decline by 34,000 while medium-size businesses with between 50 and 499 workers declined 25,000. Employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, declined 25,000. However, small business employment within the service-providing sector increased by 11,000 during December.
In December, construction employment dropped 52,000. This was its thirty-fifth consecutive monthly decline, and brings the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in January 2007 to 1,777,000. Employment in the financial services sector dropped 12,000.