Job seekers apply for the 300 available positions at a new Target retail store in San Francisco, California August 9, 2012.

NEW YORK | Thu Jan 3, 2013 8:41am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private-sector employers added more new jobs than expected last month even as a possible budget crisis loomed, helping the job market end 2012 on a high note, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Thursday.

The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 215,000 jobs last month, comfortably above economists' expectation of a 133,000 gain. The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.

The increase came even as companies worried the economy might fall off the "fiscal cliff" at year end, which would have meant higher taxes and, some predicted, suppressed hiring.

"All the labor market data…has held up very, very well so (there is) no sign of the fiscal cliff impact on the job market," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNBC television.

A last-minute deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff was struck on New Year's day.

"The underlying economy has momentum and the employment data confirms that," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago. "The hope and prayer of the market is that our political leaders don't screw it up."

A revival in new construction jobs was also a hopeful sign, Zandi said, though the gains were likely boosted by rebuilding efforts after Superstorm Sandy hit the east coast in October.

November's private payrolls tally was also revised upward to show an gain of 148,000 from the previously reported 118,000.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' more comprehensive payrolls report due on Friday is expected to show the economy added 150,000 jobs last month after adding 146,000 in November.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Ford Assembly workers Calvin Thompson (R ) and Jimmie Lackey install a battery in the back of a partially assembled C-MAX Hybrid vehicle at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan November 7, 2012.

NEW YORK | Wed Jan 2, 2013 9:03am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing closed out 2012 on the upswing as increased demand at home and abroad helped the sector grow in December at its fastest rate in seven months.

Financial data firm Markit said on Wednesday its U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54.0 from 52.8 in November. December's reading was a touch below the "flash," or preliminary estimate of 54.2 but was still the highest since May on a final basis.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Firms tied the faster growth to a rise in new orders, with one in five companies reporting an increase. The index's new orders component rose to 54.7, the fastest increase since April, from 53.6 in November.

The second straight monthly increase in new export orders also boosted the sector and could bode well for the year ahead.

"With recent indications that growth is also picking up in other key economies around the world, notably in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, and that the euro zone's economic crisis is easing, U.S. companies should benefit as stronger demand lifts exports in early 2013," said Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson.

The pace of hiring hit an eight-month high, "suggesting underlying improvement in demand pushed away worries about the 'fiscal cliff' to the backs of manufacturers' minds," Williamson said.

For months, Americans had been worried about the "fiscal cliff", some $600 billion of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that had been set to take effect in January, which economists had said could push the economy into recession. On Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers reached a deal to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts.

(Reporting By Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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NEW YORK | Thu Jan 3, 2013 7:57am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell in December for the first time in four months, while the overall job-cut total in 2012 was the lowest since 1997, a report showed on Thursday.

Employers announced 32,556 job cuts last month, the second lowest monthly total of 2012 and down 43 percent from 57,081 in November, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. In 2012, the only month with a lower job-cuts tally was August, with 32,239.

December's job cuts were also down 22 percent from the 41,785 seen a year ago.

During 2012, employers announced 523,362 cuts, down 14 percent from the 606,082 job cuts announced in 2011 and the lowest level since 1997 when employers announced 434,350 cuts.

"We saw a few spikes in monthly job cuts in 2012 and there were some significant mass layoffs that definitely reminded us that not every industry is enjoying the fruits of recovery. However, the overall pace of downsizing was at its slowest since the end of the recession," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"In fact, we have not seen this level of job cutting since before the dot-com collapse and subsequent 2001 recession," Challenger said in a statement.

One of the significant mass layoffs of last year was made in December by Citigroup Inc (C.N), which announced 11,000 job cuts early in the month. The bank accounted for the majority of the 11,355 job cuts announced last month in the financial sector, which was the top job-cutting sector in December.

The leading job-cut sector of 2012 was the computer industry, which announced 46,164 layoffs last year, up 215 percent from 14,677 job cuts in the computer industry in 2011.

The most dramatic decline in job cuts came in the government sector, which announced 19,128 layoffs in 2012, down 90 percent from 183,064 announced job cuts in 2011.

However, the fall in job cuts in December may not carry over into early 2013.

"Historically, January is, on average, the biggest job-cut month of the year, and several sectors, including computer, financial services, consumer products, transportation and aerospace and defense are at risk due to a high potential for reduced spending by consumers, businesses and government in 2013," Challenger said.

The report comes a day ahead of the key jobs report, which is forecast to show 150,000 new U.S. jobs were added in December, up slightly from 146,000 new jobs in November.

(Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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A shopper walks down an aisle in a newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago in this September 21, 2011 file photo.

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:21am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment slumped in December as Americans were rattled by on-going negotiations to avert the tax hikes and spending cuts set to come into effect in the new year, data showed on Friday.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment tumbled to 72.9 from 82.7 in November, worse than forecasts for 74.7.

It was the lowest level since July and also came in under December's preliminary figure of 74.5.

Talks to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff were thrown into disarray on Thursday evening when Republican lawmakers failed to back an effort by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner that was designed to extract concessions from President Barack Obama.

Economists say the economy could fall back into recession next year if the changes are allowed to go into full effect.

Record numbers of consumers spontaneously mentioned their concerns that no resolution would be reached before year-end, the survey said.

"Even if something is passed in the next week, unless it includes an extension of the payroll tax holiday, as well as no increase in income taxes except for the wealthy, consumers are likely to be disappointed," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

Of those surveyed, 27 percent said they were concerned about higher taxes, topping the prior high of 26 percent seen in August 2011 in the wake of the drawn-out debt ceiling debate.

U.S. stocks as measured by the SP500 index were down about 1.0 percent in morning trading as hopes faded that a fiscal deal would be reached soon.

Consumers were also less upbeat about the economic outlook, with 35 percent expecting unemployment to rise during 2013, up from 19 percent in October. Only one-third expected an uninterrupted economic expansion over the next five years.

The barometer of current economic conditions slipped to 87.0 from November's 90.7, while the gauge of consumer expectations fell to 63.8 from 77.6.

The survey's one-year inflation expectation edged up to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, while the survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook rose to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr)

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