U.S. private companies added workers at a brisk clip in December, pointing to underlying strength in the economy despite signs that growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter.
Payrolls processor ADP said private-sector employment rose by 257,000 last month, the largest gain since December 2014, after being boosted by 211,000 in November.
However, the ADP data tends to overstate job gains in December because of a year-end accounting quirk. The ADP report was released ahead of the government's more comprehensive December employment report on Friday.
According to a survey of economists, U.S. non-farm payrolls probably increased 200,000 last month, on top of the 211,000 jobs added in November. The unemployment rate is seen unchanged at a seven-and-a-half-year low of 5%
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