The
private sector
added 183K jobs in January, which was well above the market's expectation of 148K. These results were a little better than last month (December), revised to a net gain of 176K, and above the historical average of 151.5K job gains per month (orange line).
The gains were broad-based among establishment size:
- Small business: +39K
- Mid-sized business: +92K
- Large business: +69K
- Although led by the services industry:
- Manufacturing: -6K
- Services: +190K
*With leisure & hospitality (+54K) and trade, transport, and utilities (+56K) leading the way
The 3-month average of private sector job gains dropped from 200,333 to 187,667 and the 12-month average increased from 144,333 to 148,333.
Private sector job gains have grown 1.3% over the last 12 months, below the historical average of 1.6%. But the pace of job growth seems to have stabilized and is now trending higher again. This is now the 12th straight month where annualized job gains have been moving higher.
Overall a good start to the new year for private sector payrolls. Today, we’ll get the NFP employment report which includes government employees, wage gains, and the unemployment rate .