Estimate suggests January jobs report will far surpass predictions

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The Labor Department will release its January jobs report Friday, but an early estimate suggests the U.S. economy did far better than analysts are predicting.

Data released by ADP and Moody's Analytics show payrolls grew by 213,000 in January, during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Most analysts projected about 170,000 new jobs.

Medium-sized business led the charge in the ADP-Moody's report, with 84,000 new jobs -- followed by large business (66,000) and small businesses (63,000).

"Despite the severe disruptions, businesses continued to add aggressively to their payrolls," said Moody's economist Mark Zandi. "As long as businesses hire strongly, the economic expansion will continue on."

Payroll processor ADP regularly releases job numbers ahead of the federal report.

MarketWatch projected unemployment steady at 3.9 percent in January, a historically low level. Many of the 800,000 furloughed federal workers filed for temporary unemployment during the 35-day shutdown.

The last jobs report said 263,000 were added in December.