US ADP employment dropped -123k in December, much worse than expectation of 75k growth. By company size, large businesses cut -147k jobs. Medium business added 37k jobs while small businesses cut -13k. By sector, goods-producing companies cut -18k jobs while service-providing companies cut -105k jobs.
“As the impact of the pandemic on the labor market intensifies, December posted the first decline since April 2020,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “The job losses were primarily concentrated in retail and leisure and hospitality.”