- Syrian general gunned down in Damascus
- The Greek debt conundrum, explained
- Helpers in a hostile world: the risk of aid work grows
- Steve Jobs FBI file: four humanizing revelations
- Pressure for Western intervention in Syria builds with fresh assaults (+video)
- Why Egypt may not care about losing US aid
ADP employment report: Midsize firms start hiring again
Private midsize firms hired 9,000 workers in January, the first gain in two years, according to the ADP employment report.
Graduate business students and alumni from 24 schools attended a job fair sponsored by MyWorkster in New York in January. Midsize businesses added 9,000 workers last month, the first hiring gains in two years, the ADP employment report said Wednesday.
Frances M. Roberts/Newscom/File
Medium-sized businesses are back in hiring mode.
Skip to next paragraphWhy It Matters
Medium-sized businesses employ more Americans than big corporations and almost as many as small businesses. When they turn up, the economy may soon follow. Get the latest business, economy and other news by following us on Twitter.
After leading the charge in laying off workers during most of the recession, they added a net 9,000 workers last month, the ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday. That's the first employment growth among companies with 50 to 499 workers in two years.
Overall, the economy still lost 22,000 jobs between December and January, according to the ADP report. But that was the smallest decline since February 2008.
"Growth of overall private employment is on the verge of turning positive,”Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, said in a release. The company puts out the monthly report, based on private payroll data, in partnership with Automatic Data Processing. On Friday, the US Labor Department will release the official unemployment figures for January.
Midsized businesses still have a long way to go. They have lost nearly 3.2 million since the recession began, according to ADP. Nationally, these firms employ more than 42 million Americans, far more than large companies (17.8 million) and nearly as many as small businesses (48 million).
Viewed that way, January is perhaps the start of a long, uphill recovery.
Become part of the Monitor community
36K on Facebook | 12K on Twitter | 2,250 on YouTube