Czar Nicholas II of Russia

Car Czar Consulting says: Job losses are still “a loss.” Someone needs to turn this around to put this in the positive mode for good, and soon.

January U.S. Private-Sector Jobs Fell by 22,000, ADP Says

WSJ, Feb. 3, 2010, NEW YORK—The labor market showed positive signs of recovering in January. Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 22,000 in January, the smallest drop since February 2008, and service jobs continued to rise, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers.

A separate report indicated that the U.S. service sector resumed expansion in January.

The ADP loss is slightly below the 30,000 drop projected by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The estimated change of employment from November to December 2009 was revised by 23,000, from a decline of 84,000 to a decline of 61,000.

The ADP survey tallies only private-sector jobs, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ nonfarm payroll data, to be released Friday, include government workers.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the BLS will report January payrolls were unchanged, following the 85,000 jobs lost in December. The total payroll figure should be lifted by expected hiring of census workers by the federal government.

The January unemployment rate is projected to edge up to 10.1% from 10.0%. Friday’s report will include benchmark revisions to the establishment survey which covers the nonfarm payroll data.

The latest ADP report showed large businesses with 500 employees or more shed 19,000 jobs and medium-size businesses added 9,000 workers in January. Small businesses that employ fewer than 50 workers cut 12,000 jobs.

Service-sector jobs added 38,000, the second increase in a row, while factory jobs dropped another 60,000 last month.

ADP, of Roseland, N.J., said it processes payments of one in six U.S. workers, while Macroeconomic Advisers, based in St. Louis, is an economic-consulting firm.

In other Wednesday job reports, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said U.S. companies in January announced plans to reduce payrolls by 71,482 workers, the highest job-cut tally in five months.

Last month’s job cuts, which were up 59% from December’s tally, were led by retail-sector employers, which not only eliminated many of the seasonal positions added between October and December, but also many of the full-time, permanent jobs that existed before the holidays, the Challenger report said.

Plus, TrimTabs Investment Research estimated the U.S. economy lost 104,000 jobs in January. TrimTabs bases its employment estimates on analysis of daily income tax deposits to the U.S. Treasury from all salaried employees.

ISM Services Index Rises

A report from the Institute for Supply Management Wednesday said that its non-manufacturing index moved to 50.5, from 49.8 in December, while the business activity index hit 52.2, from 53.2. The overall index had been expected to hit 51.0. Readings over 50 indicate expanding activity.

The private research group’s non-manufacturing index is comprised largely of service-sector activity, which makes up the majority of American economic output. The report comes at a time where the economy is in recovery mode.

On Monday, the ISM reported that the manufacturing sector saw its biggest activity gain in over five years in January, amid signs factory employment may be starting to pick up. The service sector has, however, been lagging the nation’s factory base, although survey director Anthony Nieves said “respondents” comments overall are cautiously optimistic about business conditions.”

The report’s details were generally positive. Hiring faced continued headwinds, with that index coming in at 44.6, from December’s 43.6, indicating a slowing rate of contraction. Meanwhile, new orders were higher, with that measure at 54.7, from 52.0.

The inflationary pressures faced by the non-manufacturing sector rose, with the prices index at 61.2, after December’s 59.6.