U.S. private sector shed 693,000 jobs in Dec

Wed Jan 7, 2009 1:26pm GMT

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers shed 693,000 jobs in December, up sharply from the revised 476,000 jobs lost in November and far more than economists estimated, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

The median of estimates from 20 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report was for 473,000 private-sector jobs lost in December.

The report for December was the first month the data was issued using a new methodology, which ADP said was designed to more closely predict the outcome of the government's non-farm payrolls report.

The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers.

(Reporting by John Parry and Burton Frierson; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

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