Estimates for nonfarm payrolls spiked this week after ADP reported a 297,000 gain in the smaller private-sector job sector.
The economic indicator is viewed as an early signal for Friday morning’s December employment situation report.
IFR expects nonfarm payrolls to increase 200,000 in December — little better than a return to trend from November’s surprisingly weak 39,000 gain. That expectation represents a 150,000 rise.
IFR also expects the jobless rate to dip to 9.7% from 9.8%.
The economy must create 115,000 to 125,000 jobs each month just to make room for new workers joining the national labor force for the first time, according to Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Private Wealth Management.
Average hourly earnings were flat in November, and IFR looks for a return to trend of about 0.2% in December. The average workweek could tick up to 34.4 hours; that compares with the 34.6 hour pre-recession norm.
Service-producing industries should outpace goods-producing industries in number of hires.
