American companies unexpectedly cut 123,000 jobs in December, shows ADP report

In December, American private employers cut jobs for the first time in six months, suggesting that the recovery of the labor market from the coronavirus crisis has stalled amid a resurgence of cases across the country, according to the ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday.

The report showed that companies cut 123,000 jobs last month, missing the 88,000 increase forecast by economists surveyed by Refinitiv.

“As the impact of the pandemic on the labor market intensifies, December saw its first drop since April 2020,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-director of the ADP Research Institute, in a statement.

The data precedes the Department of Labor’s job report, which is expected to show that the US economy created 100,000 jobs last month, below November’s gain of 245,000. Analysts predict that unemployment will remain stable at 6.7%.

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