Private payroll growth ended 2019 on a strong note, with companies adding 202,000 positions in December in another sign of a healthy labor market, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics.
The total was well above the 150,000 consensus estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and sets the stage for the government’s official count that will be released Friday. Economists expect the Labor Department’s tally to show a gain of 160,000.
In addition to the solid December growth, ADP revised the initial November count of 67,000 up to 124,000.
Despite the big beat in December, the jobs market continues to “moderate,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“Manufacturers, energy producers and small companies have been shedding jobs. Unemployment is low, but will begin to rise if job growth slows much further,” Zandi said in a statement.
Job gains for the month were spread across sectors, with construction adding 37,000, the best monthly gain since April and a reversal of the initially reported 5,600 loss in November.
