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ADP, yet another company that surveys and processes American employment data, has reported a December upswing in job numbers. According to their data, 297,000 private-sector jobs were added in the last month.
Numbers Higher Than Expected.
While the number may be only a drop in the bucket (and somewhat unreliable, as the data doesn’t show how many workers were hired on a temporary basis during the holiday season), it is, according to NPR, considerably higher than the 100,000-job increase predicted by economists for December.
The Data Isn’t Set In Stone.
As the International Business Times reminds us, a steady increase of 200,000 jobs per month is required to change the unemployment rate, currently at 9.8%. Taking that into account, the December numbers are heartening. But (there’s always a “but,” isn’t there?) the ADP has a history of overestimating employment numbers in relation to the official monthly jobs report issued by the Labor Department. The official report for December will be released this Friday.
What Do The Numbers Mean To You?
Frankly, the numbers can be interpreted as you wish. Choose to regard them as encouraging or as misrepresented, but while doing so, consider whether or not your chief concern is employment on a national scale or a personal one. As working people in a post-recession country, we know which comes first with us.
