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Special factors in play for December’s US employment report
Some things to keep in mind for the December employment report, to be released Friday, January 7 at 8:30 ET. Econoday’s consensus is calling for a robust 400,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls which would nearly double November’s 210,000 rise. First: The explosion of hiring in private payrolls reported in the ADP’s national employment report for December should be read cautiously. Up 807,000 for the total is huge. And the ADP number does not move in tandem with that of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and can miss by a wide margin. Nonetheless, it does suggest there was strong hiring in December and notably in areas ... (full story)