Private sector employment increased by 202,000 jobs from November to December, according to the December ADP National Employment Report.

“The service providers posted the largest gain since April, driven mainly by professional and business services,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Job creation was strong across companies of all sizes, led predominantly by midsized companies.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Looking through the monthly vagaries of the data, job gains continue to moderate. Manufacturers, energy producers, and small companies have been shedding jobs. Unemployment is low but will begin to rise if job growth slows much further.”