video transcript

The Daily Digit today is 215,000. That's how many private sector jobs were added in December, according to the ADP National Employment Report. It's way above economists' expectation of a net gain of 133,000. The increase came even as companies worried the economy might fall off the now averted "fiscal cliff" at year's end, which would have meant higher taxes - and as some predicted - suppressed hiring. But Michael Gayed, chief investment strategist at an investment company Pension Partners is skeptical of the numbers, (SOUNDBITE) MICHAEL GAYED, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, PENSION PARTNERS (ENGLISH) SAYING: "That's because looking at ADP versus the government numbers, they aren't exactly matched and it's not really clear how real that number is given all of this drama that we just went through over the past month with the fiscal cliff. So I think the market may just kind of shrug off all economic data for the next few weeks until some time has passed to gauge business sentiment following the deal." The ADP report seems to be just another ray of light in recent jobs data. On Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management's employment index jumped to its highest reading since September. And another set of labor market indicators is coming out on Friday. Economist polled by Reuters expect non-farm payrolls to grow by 150,000 and unemployment to stay at 7.7%.