by Calculated Risk on 2/01/2012 08:15:00 AM

ADP reports:

Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 170,000 from December to January on a seasonally adjusted basis. The estimated advance in employment from November to December was revised down to 292,000 from the initially reported 325,000.

Employment in the private, service-providing sector rose 152,000 in January, and employment in the private, goods-producing sector increased 18,000 in January, while manufacturing employment increased 10,000.

This was at the consensus forecast of an increase of 172,000 private sector jobs in January. The BLS reports on Friday, and the consensus is for an increase of 135,000 payroll jobs in January, on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis.

Government payrolls have been shrinking, so the ADP report suggests around 150,000 private nonfarm payroll jobs added in January. Of course ADP hasn't been very useful in predicting the BLS report.