Texas and Florida led the way among the largest U.S. states in hiring by private sector employers last month, according to a new report by payroll giant ADP.
The December 2013 ADP Regional Employment Report, produced in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics, found employment gains last month in most parts of the country, but in some more than others.
“December continued a trend we saw throughout 2013,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, senior director of the ADP Research Institute, in a statement. “Job growth in the West and South was somewhat stronger than in the Northeast and Midwest.”
Texas added 29,110 jobs in December, while Florida added 25,230, according to ADP. Other big gains came in California, which added 21,380 jobs, and New York State, which added 13,990 jobs.
Last week, the ADP National Employment Report reported that total U.S. private sector employment increased by a total of 238,000 jobs from November to December.
In contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ official numbers found an increase of only 74,000 jobs last month in both the private and public sectors, although the unemployment rate nevertheless declined from 7.0 to 6.7 percent, in part because of many of the long-term unemployed dropping out of the workforce.
Congress has still not agreed to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation for the long-term unemployed, which expired in late December. An estimated 1.5 million Americans have now lost their unemployment benefits as a result of the expiration of the program. Republican and Democratic lawmakers continue to disagree on how to offset the cost of extending the unemployment benefits, or whether the cost should even be offset in the budget.
For more information on the ADP Regional Employment Report for December,
