Private payrolls grew at a much faster pace than expected in January as the stateside labour market shrugged off the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, according to data released Wednesday by ADP and Moody’s Analytics.
The data showed Wednesday that companies added 213,000 jobs this month, blowing out of the water projections by economists, who expected payrolls to grow by only 178,000.
The strong jobs growth comes even as the U.S. government was shut down for 35 days as the Trump administration and congressional leaders could not agree on funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The shutdown ended last Friday, amid dire warnings from President Donald Trump that another shutdown could take place by the middle of February.
Medium-sized businesses, employing between 50 and 499 people, led the charge by adding 84,000 payrolls. Large businesses, which have at least 500 employees, expanded their head count by 66,000. Small businesses added 63,000 jobs.
The services sector contributed the lion's share of the jobs this month, with 145,000 jobs being added. Within the services sector, jobs in professional and business services grew by 46,000 while education and health services payrolls expanded by 38,000. The goods-producing sector, which includes construction, mining and manufacturing, added 68,000 jobs last month.
