A jobs report for December from the payroll processing firm ADP reveals 807,000 jobs to have been added across the month — the best showing in the ADP data since May of last year and more than double the expectations for the month from Dow Jones economists. That Dow Jones estimate placed the month’s hiring level at just 375,000 jobs, although there’s still a forthcoming report on the month from the Bureau of Labor Statistics within the federal government. Reports from ADP and the Bureau have often shown significant differences… although the ADP reports have recently been, on average, lower than the federal numbers, suggesting that even the government’s findings won’t sink the positive impression from these figures.
Folks, get vaccinated.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 4, 2022
As summarized by CNBC, “[Leisure] and hospitality led with 246,000 new positions. Trade, transportation and utilities contributed 138,000, professional and business services increased by 130,000, and education and health services added 85,000.” All of this economic progress is not, it must be said, unfolding in a vacuum. The Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan from earlier in 2021 helped push things along — with a lot of money to go around from that bill at the outset, and now, the bipartisan infrastructure deal has been signed into law, setting up accessible work opportunities around the country as its many associated projects are prepared for completion. The Biden team has also presided over a fittingly aggressive push to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, which helps with a (safe) return to ordinary economic activities.
Communities of color are twice as likely to take public transportation and many lack adequate public transit options.
@POTUS's infrastructure law makes a historic investment in public transit that will improve transportation options for millions and reduce greenhouse emissions.— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 5, 2022
The report from ADP doesn’t cover the period when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 really set in; since its recent formal discovery in the United States, it has driven a dramatic surge in cases and a new round of economic faltering as those with stakes in the matter have struggled to keep up with what keeps the most people safe. The Biden administration is preparing a push to send out hundreds of millions of at-home COVID-19 tests to Americans who want them, as part of an effort to help Americans with stemming the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, Republican leaders continue to deceptively foster distrust of measures like the vaccines, making the economic recovery — not to mention protecting the health of the public, obviously — difficult.
New: December jobs report comes in at double expectations. Economists had predicted 400,000 private sector jobs were added last month, but the report by ADP registered 807,000 new jobs.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 5, 2022
