US private sector employment growth rises in December, but Omicron weaves | Unemployment News

U.S. private companies added 807,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, but economists have warned that Omicron could weigh in on the January job market recovery.

The highly contagious Omicron variant did not hinder the recovery of the U.S. labor market last month, according to private payroll data released on Wednesday. But as coronaviruses are spreading across the country, causing the flight to be canceled, and forcing workers to call sick, Omicron is likely to create jobs in January, economists have warned.

Private companies added 807,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

The number of report holders produced by the ADP Research Institute and Moody’s Analytics – the highest reading since May last year – was almost double what most analysts had predicted.

But data from the ADP report were collected in mid-December, when Omicron’s deployment began to take off.

“This morning’s ADP data coincided with a strong pace of employment growth in December, suggesting that the Omicron wave arrived late to significantly impact employment growth for the month,” said Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius.

Private wage gains were very broad, employment in the services sector increased by 669,000 jobs, and the goods-producing sector increased by 138,000.

In the services sector, the entertainment and hospitality business, which looked to customers, added nearly a quarter of a million jobs last month.

A broader picture of the U.S. job market is expected to be released on Friday with the release of a monthly labor report closely monitored by the Department of Labor. Goldman Sachs economists cut their December payrolls to 50,000 and a half million after the publication of ADP figures.

Despite the strength of job creation in December, some economists have warned that Omicron could have a big impact on the January data.

“The recent rise in Omicron cases nationwide has led to cancellations and closures, as understaffed businesses are already suffering from a wave of workers being called sick. ” said Michael Pearce, senior US economist at Capital Economics. “Most of those absentees will still be paid and will therefore be counted this month. But a significant minority who do not have access to paid sick leave do not have it, possibly deducting hundreds of thousands from official off-farm payrolls in January.”

Pearce also noted that “as the ADP survey counts anyone on the payroll as an employee, however, whether or not they are paid can lead to a major discrepancy between the two employment measures.”

Omicron isn’t the only headwind facing a resurgence in the U.S. labor market. The continuing shortage of workers also exacerbates job creation.

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor reported that they were there 10.6 million jobs opened at the end of November, which is high by historical standards, while Americans feel so confident about their employment opportunities that they continue to quit their jobs in record numbers.