Wednesday, January 30, 2008

ADP Employment Report

Employment in the US private sector grew by 130,000 in the first month of the year, according to the ADP report released today. Economists had been expecting a number closer to 70,000 new jobs.

Service-oriented employment grew by 141,000, while manufacturing employment held steady after 18 straight months of decline. The one negative came in the goods-producing sector, where a decline of 11,000 was reported.

The number is certainly not one indicative of a deteriorating economy. Taking recent economic indicators into account, recession worries may seem a little overblown at the moment.


Note: Public Sector employment is not covered by the report, suggesting that the jobs market in January may be even more positive than reported.

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