US private sector adds 41,000 jobs in December

The US private sector added fewer jobs than expected in December, indicating a continued slowdown in the labor market in the world's largest economy.

Companies in the private sector added 41,000 jobs in December, payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday, falling short of Dow Jones analysts' expectations of 48,000.

Investors are now focused on the non-farm payrolls report due Friday, with expectations that the US economy will add 73,000 new jobs in December.

According to the data released today, the education and healthcare sectors added 39,000 jobs, while the leisure and hospitality sector contributed 24,000. The professional and business services sector, however, lost 29,000 jobs.

The rate of wage growth remained steady at 4.4% year-over-year (YoY) in December, according to the data.

Most of the job gains came from small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees, while large companies added only about 2,000 jobs.