ADP has released its January private sector payrolls report, and on the surface it looks disappointing. Still, there may be a flip side here. ADP said that 213,000 jobs were created in January, short of estimates. Bloomberg was calling for a gain of 220,000 and the Wall Street Journal was calling for 240,000.

While the number is short of expectations, it does still represent growth. This growth also is low enough that it does not force the Federal Reserve into a corner where it has to raise interest rates sooner than it wants to (whenever that is).

Small businesses were shown to add 78,000 jobs and franchises added 26,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses accounted for 95,000 jobs, and large businesses accounted for 40,000 of the jobs. Service jobs were 183,000 and manufacturing and goods-producing jobs were 31,000 in January.

By industry, these were as follows:

• Construction, 18,000
• Manufacturing, 14,000
• Trade/transportation/utilities, 54,000
• Financial activities. 11,000
• Professional/business services. 42,000

Again, while the numbers are short of estimates, they are still growth — and growth that doesn’t have to spook Janet Yellen and other members of the Federal Reserve.

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