U.S. private sector adds 250,000 jobs in December

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in December, the latest sign of a tight labor market and strong economic momentum, according to data released by the ADP Research Institute on Thursday.

Payrolls at non-farm private companies increased by 250,000 in December, the most in nine month, the ADP said. The figure easily beat economists' expectations for a gain of 190,000.

"We've seen yet another month where the labor market has shown no signs of slowing," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.

Service sector drove the bulk of the gains, adding 222,000 jobs in December. "Throughout the year there was significant growth in services except for an overall loss of jobs in the shrinking information sector," said Yildirmaz.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said "the job market ended the year strongly. Robust Christmas sales prompted retailers and delivery services to add to their payrolls."

The ADP National Employment Report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics. Enditem