By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The U.S. labor market remained as resilient as ever around the year-end, despite increasing evidence of layoffs at individual companies.
Private-sector payrolls grew by 235,000 in the month through mid-December, according to ADP's monthly survey published Thursday, almost twice November's level of 127,000. Meanwhile, initial claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest since late September last week, at only 204,000 - clearly below the 225,000 expected.
The figures underline how demand for labor in the U.S. is still running well ahead of supply, even though various sectors from homebuilding to retail and technology are struggling with the deflation of a stimulus-fueled boom during the pandemic.