U.S. private employment shrank by 123,000 in December, worse than expected

Many people go to a career development center in Las Vegas to inquire about unemployment assistance benefits in March 2020.

The ADP employment report, known as the “mini-nonfarm payrolls,” showed that U.S. private sector employment fell by 123,000 in December last year, the first contraction since the early stages of the outbreak of the new pneumonia (Chinese communist virus) last year, indicating that the U.S. economic boom will cool sharply by the end of 2020. Dow Jones surveyed economists originally estimated that private companies hired 60,000 more people in December.

The number of private jobs in the U.S. fell instead of rose in December, interrupting a seven-month trend of job growth since the end of the blockade against the epidemic in March and April last year. In contrast, private employment increased by 304,000 in November, a downward revision of 3,000 from the initial estimate originally announced.