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Private-sector jobs rise 158,000, ADP says:

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:16 AM ET Dec 6, 2006

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Private employers in the United States created 158,000 net new jobs in November, according to the ADP employment index released Wednesday.

It's the largest gain in the ADP index since June's 368,000.

Together with an estimated 15,000 government jobs that aren't included in the ADP index, the report suggests nonfarm payrolls likely grew by about 170,000 in November.

The government nonfarm payroll report will be released Friday morning.

Analysts currently expect job growth of about 110,000 in November, according to a survey of economists conducted by MarketWatch.

In October, the ADP report showed 128,000 private-sector jobs, while the Labor Department's report found 58,000 in the private-sector and 92,000 total.

"These findings suggest a modest acceleration of employment in November, following three months during which, according to the ADP National Employment Report, gains in private nonfarm employment averaged a slower 104,000 per month," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, the economic firm that computes the ADP index from anonymous payroll data provided by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP).

The ADP report is considered by some to be the best single predictor of the government's nonfarm payroll report, but its record has been spotty since being rolling out in public in April.

The ADP report got it wrong in June, when it forecast private-sector gains of 368,000, while the government report showed just 107,000 new jobs created in the private sector and an additional 27,000 government jobs.

The ADP sample is taken during the same week of the month as the government survey, using similar techniques on anonymous sample data from about 250,000 business sites covering about 17 million workers. Roseland, N.J.-based ADP provides payroll and human-resources services to about one of every six U.S. workers, at more than 500,000 companies.

The ADP index is constructed to mirror the government report in coverage of industries, firm size and region, Prakken said.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.