Job market looks stronger, maybe

ADP, Challenger data: Signs of strength in January - Feb. 2, 2011:
"Job market looks stronger ahead of Friday report
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The job market started 2011 on solid footing, according to two separate reports released Wednesday.

Payrolls among private employers rose by 187,000 in January, payroll processor ADP said. Analysts polled by Briefing.com were predicting 145,000 jobs added for the month."

A whisper of good news after a year in the economic doldrums and a hideous winter season for the northern States.

On the other side of the coin (which, in this economy, can best be described as haypenny), the article goes on to drop the disclaimer:

"Economists are also cautious about completely trusting the ADP and Challenger reports. For the last six months, the ADP figure has missed the government's reading on private payrolls by an average of 96,000 jobs, said Jennifer Lee, an economist with BMO Capital Markets.


Ahead of the Friday jobs report, economists surveyed by CNNMoney are predicting the economy added 149,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.5% in January."

So we wait for the "report" (drum-roll) due out on Friday. That is, if we don't get hit by an iceberg till then.