Small Businesses Responsible For All of January’s 193,000 Job Gains

January 2013 Change in Nonfarm Private Employment by Company Size

Private sector employment increased by 192,000 jobs from December to January, according to the January ADP National Employment Report®, which is produced by ADP®, a leading provider of human capital management services, in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The December 2012 report, which reported job gains of 215,000, was revised downward by 30,000 to 185,000 jobs.

Goods-producing employment rose by 15,000 jobs in January which was primarily driven by an increase in construction jobs of 15,000. Meanwhile, manufacturers shed 3,000 jobs. 

Service-providing jobs increased by 177,000. Among the service industries reported by the ADP National Employment Report, professional/business services registered the largest gain with 40,000 jobs added over the month. Trade/transportation/utilities added 33,000 jobs and financial activities added 12,000 jobs.

“U.S. private sector employment got off to a good start in 2013, as 192,000 jobs were added during the month of January,” noted Carlos A. Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP. “According to the ADP National Employment Report, private sector employers created an average of 183,000 new jobs per month during the last three months. This is an encouraging sign of steady improvement in the job market.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “The job market is slowly, but steadily, improving. Monthly job gains appear to have accelerated from near 150,000 to closer to 175,000. Construction is finally kicking into gear and more than offsetting the weakness in manufacturing. The recent gains may be overstating any improvement, particularly in the context of recent revivals in growth at the start of the past three years, but the gains are encouraging nonetheless.”

Businesses with 49 or fewer employees added 115,000 jobs in January. Employment levels among medium-sized companies with 50-499 employees rose by 79,000, while employment at large companies – those with 500 or more employees – fell by 2,000.