INSTANT VIEW: U.S. loses 693,000 private-sector jobs in December

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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.

KEY POINTS: * 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 LLC.

COMMENTS:

DAVE LUTZ, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STIFEL NICOLAUS, BALTIMORE:

"It is absolutely terrible. Both the Challenger number and the ADP number, they're very, very volatile. When we're dealing with volatile economic numbers like that what we look at the revision, and obviously the revision is much worse, and the trend continues to be negative, negative, negative.

"I can't imagine this is going to bode very well for any kind of forecasting going into the nonfarm payroll and unemployment rate numbers that we're going to see on Friday. I would anticipate some kind of weakness... There's a chance that the market shrugs it off today, but we could definitely see some kind of weakness going into that nonfarm payroll number on Friday."

KURT KARL, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, SWISS RE, NEW YORK:

"We've had some bad months. This number seems a little large to me. We expect half of that.

"The economy continues to deteriorate at a rapid rate and there is no end in sight. We don't see any bottom with any of the indicators."

ROBERT MACINTOSH, CHIEF ECONOMIST, EATON VANCE CORP, BOSTON:

"The only one number that really counts is the number on Friday. On the face of it, it is more negative, more dire than what had been on paper. It does further tell you that the economy is weak, that we are in a deep, deep recession."

KEN LANDON, SENIOR CURRENCY STRATEGIST, JP MORGAN CHASE:

"The ADP number confirms people's knowledge of a very weak month and the dollar and equities have come off sharply as a result. Although the ADP is known to be widely unreliable, the report plays into the market's worst fears."

LOU BRIEN, MARKET STRATEGIST, DRW TRADING GROUP, CHICAGO:

"Treasuries are reacting mildly to the ADP report. Stocks are reacting sharply, but bonds are only gaining a little bit on this horrendous report, which could be the worst result in about 60 years."

STEVEN BUTLER, DIRECTOR, FX TRADING, SCOTIA CAPITAL, TORONTO: