The numbers: Businesses added a solid 164,0,000 new jobs in December, paycheck company ADP said, in a sign the U.S. labor market remains fairly robust.
The increase was the biggest in four months. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 130,000 gain.
The ADP payroll estimate is not an accurate predictor of the government’s official employment report that follows a few days later, but both surveys move in the same direction over time.
What both reports show is a broad slowdown in hiring, but companies are still adding workers because of steady demand for their goods and services.
The government on Friday is expected to report 170,000 new jobs were created in December. The official report includes government workers unlike ADP.
Big picture: The labor market has lost some luster. Job openings have fallen to a nearly three-year low and hiring has slowed.
Yet unemployment remains extremely low and consumers feel confident enough to keep spending. That could be enough to keep the U.S. out of recession despite high interest rates put in place by the Federal Reserve to extinguish high inflation.
Market reaction: Before the ADP report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and S&P 500
SPX,
were set to open higher in Thursday trades.
