U.S. private institutional sector employment growth in January came in weaker than expected.
U.S. employment information firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP) said on the 4th that private companies added 22,000 jobs in January from the previous month. That fell short of the 45,000 increase expected by experts polled by Dow Jones.
Employment in education and health services jumped by a total of 74,000. Finance added 14,000 jobs, construction 9,000, and trade, transportation and utilities and leisure and hospitality each added 4,000.
However, professional and business services lost 57,000 jobs. Other services shed 13,000, and manufacturing lost 8,000 jobs.
The wage growth rate was little changed from December, and pay for holdouts rose 4.5% from a year earlier.
Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist, said, "Job creation has steadily shown a sharp slowdown over the past three years, but wage growth remains stable."
The ADP private corporations employment report is based on data collected by a private information firm. It can differ from the government's official nonfarm payrolls report. The Labor Department's January employment report was originally set for release on the 6th, but the announcement was delayed due to a partial federal government shutdown.