The U.S. labour market continues to weaken, with the latest data showing limited job growth in January of this year.
Data from payrolls processing firm ADP (ADP) shows that private companies in America added only 22,000 jobs in January, less than half the 45,000 positions expected among economists.
The January jobs data would have been negative had it not been for a surge of 74,000 hires in education and healthcare.
The 22,000 jobs added in January was also a slowdown from the 37,000 net new jobs added in December of last year.
The latest report shows a lackluster labour market and a low-hire, low-fire environment as the U.S. economy continues to slow.
Outside of the healthcare sector, financial services added 14,000 new positions and employment in construction rose by 9,000 jobs in January.
However, several sectors of the U.S. economy reported negative job growth during the month.
Professional and business services lost 57,000 jobs, while employment in manufacturing declined by 8,000 positions, according to ADP.
Wage gains in the U.S. were little changed between December and January, with people staying in their jobs seeing their annual pay grow about 4.5%.
The ADP report typically precedes the more closely watched Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report.
However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report that was scheduled to be released on Feb. 6 has been canceled due to the partial U.S. government shutdown that occurred in recent days.
