By Kathleen Madigan
Business hiring continued at a solid although
slower-than-expected pace at the start of 2015, according to an
employment survey released Wednesday.
Another jobs-related report also suggested hiring eased in
January, possibly lowering expectations for Friday's payrolls
report.
Private payrolls in the U.S. increased by 213,000 jobs in
January, said the national employment report compiled by payroll
processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm
Moody's Analytics.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projected ADP to
report a larger January increase of 240,000 new private-sector
jobs. The December ADP increase was revised up to 253,000 from
241,000.
Falling energy prices are having an impact on hiring trends, the
ADP report said.
"Businesses in the energy and supplying industries are already
scaling back payrolls in reaction to the collapse in oil prices,
while industries benefiting from the lower prices have been slower
to increase their hiring," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of
Moody's Analytics, which calculates the ADP jobs numbers.
Another report out Wednesday show a downshift in hiring.
TrimTabs Investment Research said it estimates the U.S. economy
added between 190,000 and 220,000 jobs in January.
The privately sourced reports are released ahead of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics' employment situation report scheduled for
Friday. Economists think the BLS will report January nonfarm
payrolls--which include government positions--expanded by 237,000
new positions. That would continue a 12-month string of solid
hiring, but would be slower than the 252,000 new jobs added in
December.
The January unemployment rate is forecast to slip to 5.5% from
5.6%.
Economists are unlikely to change their forecasts after seeing
the ADP numbers.
"The ADP has had some problems seasonally adjusting its January
numbers because employers often wait until the new year to purge
their payroll records of employees who had left during the previous
year," wrote Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital
Economics in a research note.
According to ADP, firms employing between 1-49 workers added
78,000 new workers last month. Medium-size businesses with payrolls
of 50-499 workers increased payrolls by 95,000 employees. Large
firms with 500 or more employees hired only 40,000 more
workers.
Service-sector payrolls increased by 183,000 workers in January.
Manufacturing added only 14,000 jobs. Construction payrolls
increased by 18,000.
Write to Kathleen Madigan at kathleen.madigan@wsj.com
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