The ADP Research Institute report on private payrolls, released yesterday, showed a gain of 291,000 jobs in January. That blew away economist forecasts for 157,000 net new jobs in the month, according to Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The January gain would be the largest since May 2015.
And this strong report comes just before the official government jobs report on Friday. A strong number there, more likely after the ADP report, would bolster the current market belief that growth in the U.S. economy is strong enough to ride past any effects of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Economists are looking for a gain of 150,000 jobs in January in tomorrow’s report from the Labor Department. Economists expect the official unemployment rate will remain at 3.5%, a 50-year low.
One important wrinkle in the official numbers to be released on Friday–they will include the Labor Department’s annual revisions. Those are expected to take job gains somewhat lower.
Mild winter weather provided a boost to the ADP numbers with construction showing an increase of 47,000 jobs in the month. That was the biggest gain for the sector in a year. Manufacturing showed a smaller 10000 gain but that was still the biggest increase in 11 months. jumped 47,000, the most in a year, and manufacturing showed a 10,000 increase in January, which was the biggest gain in 11 months.
As of 3:10 p.m. New York time the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.31%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed 0.3%; and the NASDAQ Composite had gained 0.57%. As has been usual recent the small cap Russell 2000 index did not share in the joy, dropping 0.20%.
