By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The U.S. labor market bounced back with vigor from its lockdown-related blues in the first month of the year, according to a closely-watched private survey released Wednesday.
Payrolls processor ADP said the U.S. private sector added a net 174,000 jobs in the month through mid-January, over three times as many as analysts polled by Investing.com had expected.
December’s data was also heavily revised to show a drop of only 78,000 from an initial estimate of 123,000. As such private job gains over the last two months have averaged 48,000 a month. That's despite a raft of measures imposed by states and municipalities across the country clamping down on dining, drinking and non-essential retail.