Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Private-sector employment rose in December, though the rise was lower than expected, ADP reported Wednesday.
There were 41,000 jobs added for the month, which reverses the 29,000 loss for November, bringing cautious hope to the market that struggled near the end of the year. Payrolls declined in the previous three months before ADP's December report.
The uptick is less than the Dow Jones estimate of 48,000.
"Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back," ADP's chief economist, Nela Richardson, said in a statement.
Most job gains came from small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Larger companies added 2,000.
