Jobs gains were broad-based, with the services sector of the economy leading the way.
Private sector employment increased by 174,000 jobs from December to January, according to the monthly labor market analysis released Wednesday by payroll firm ADP.
“The labor market continues its slow recovery amid COVID-19 headwinds,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.
The number was well above consensus forecasts of 50,000 jobs added and compares to the 78,000 jobs lost in the November to December period, a number that was revised upward from the previously reported 123,000 decline.
The gains were broad-based across sectors, with even the hard-hit leisure and hospitality industries recording modest increases and reversing a previous trend. The services sector posted the biggest gain, with 156,000 jobs added, including gains in health care and education.
“The labor market continues its slow recovery amid COVID-19 headwinds,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Although job losses were previously concentrated among small and mid-sized businesses, we are now seeing signs of the prolonged impact of the pandemic on large companies as well.”
The ADP report is in line with others that have shown a job market struggling to take off amid the continued onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with vaccines finally rolling out in greater numbers and Congress considering some kind of additional stimulus, most economists expect the job market to slowly improve in the coming months.
Indeed, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office this week updated its economic forecast for 2021, estimating the nation’s gross domestic product will return to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of this year. The forecast did not assume any significant additional emergency funding to combat the COVID-19 virus. Read more from US News
