MW ADP says 183,000 private-sector jobs created in January. Labor market in pretty good shape.

By Jeffry Bartash

The numbers: U.S. businesses created a solid 183,000 new jobs in January, paycheck company ADP said, in a sign a cooling labor market hasn't lost all its luster.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 150,000 new jobs in the ADP's November survey.

ADP also reported a revised 176,000 gain in December, up from a preliminary 122,000.

ADP has not been a good predictor of the government's official jobs estimate that follows a few days later, but the two reports do move in the same direction over time.

The government on Friday is expected to an increase of 169,000 new jobs in January, a Wall Street Journal poll of economists showed. That would be a marked decline from a 256,000 gain in December.

The January employment report will also undergo major revisions, however, and it tends to be hard to predict because of all the layoffs of temporary holiday-season workers.

"We had a strong start to 2025 but it masked a dichotomy in the labor market,"" said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. "Consumer-facing industries drove hiring, while job growth was weaker in businessservices and production."

In premarket trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and S&P 500 SPX were set to open lower in Wednesday trading.

-Jeffry Bartash

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2025 08:24 ET (13:24 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.