ADP report shows job creation picking up

The Labor Department report, set for release on Friday, could show a gain of about 150,000 jobs, but may not produce any positive change in the jobless rate, according to various estimates. 

“I see a clear pattern of strengthening, acceleration, here that is very encouraging,” Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, the group that produces the figures with ADP, said on a conference call. “The economy is starting to accelerate.”

The ADP report hasn’t exactly been accurate in the past several months, including a big miss in December that predicted an addition of 297,000 jobs when the Labor Department report showed a gain of only 113,000. 

Although the House is out of session this week, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will lead the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in a meeting this afternoon to discuss the job situation. 

In the Senate, lawmakers are considering a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, which Democrats have said will “support” 280,000 jobs nationwide. 

Republicans, though, have questioned whether Democrats can call the FAA bill a “jobs” measure, and been quick to argue that previous efforts have done little to lower the nation’s unemployment rate.