NEW YORK, Nov 30, (Agencies): US private sector job growth accelerated in November as employers created the most jobs in nearly a year, prompting economists to raise their forecasts for Friday’s more comprehensive US labor report. The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed private employers added 206,000 jobs this month, surpassing economists’ expectations for a gain of 130,000 jobs. It was the biggest gain since December 2010. “The ADP news is very good news. The private sector is adding jobs,” said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York.

The government’s November US labor market report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment, is expected to show a rise in overall nonfarm payrolls of 122,000 this month and a rise in private payrolls of 140,000.
Economists often refer to the ADP report to fine-tune their expectations for the payrolls numbers, though it is not always accurate in predicting the outcome.
US stocks opened sharply higher, though investors were also focused on an announcement of coordinated actions from major central banks to prevent a lack of liquidity in the global financial system. October’s private payrolls growth was revised up to an increase of 130,000 from the previously reported 110,000. The ADP report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.

Meanwhile, a different report showed the number of planned layoffs at US firms edged down marginally in November, though job cuts for the year so far have surpassed 2010’s total.
Employers announced 42,474 planned job cuts this month, down 0.7 percent from 42,759 in October, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
But with just one month left in the year, employers have announced 564,297 cuts for 2011, exceeding 2010’s total of 529,973. Separate data showed the rebound in US nonfarm productivity growth was not as strong as previously estimated in the third quarter, while wages declined for two straight quarters.
Productivity increased at a 2.3 percent annual rate, the Labor Department said, a downward revision to its previous estimate of 3.1 percent.

Declines
In other news, pending sales of US homes surged in October to the highest level in nearly a year after three straight months of declines, an industry survey showed Wednesday.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index rose to 93.3 in October, a 10.4 percent jump from September’s reading of 84.5.
The data reflects contract signings but not closings. On a 12-month basis, pending home sales were up 9.2 percent from October 2010, NAR said.
Last month’s number was the highest since November 2010, when the index hit 94.5, and could signal a slight improvement in the depressed housing market.
“Although contract signings are up, not all contracts lead to closings. Many potential home buyers inadvertently hurt their credit scores and chances of getting a mortgage through easily averted actions, such as cancelling an old credit line while taking on a new one,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.
But with mortgage interest rates hovering at record lows, combined with pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years, the improved pending sales numbers offer hope that more buyers are entering the market, Yun said.
Last week NAR reported that sales of previously owned home rose slightly in October, following a decline the prior month.

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OTTAWA: Bucking the trend of major economies, Canada checked in Wednesday with its strongest quarterly growth since the start of 2010.
The Canadian economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, led by stronger exports and housing investment, said Statistics Canada.
Analysts had forecast growth of 3.0 percent after last quarter’s decline in gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.5 percent.
By comparison, real GDP in the United States grew at a 2.0 percent pace in the third quarter, and Europe may be in a recession.
Statistics Canada said growth in consumer spending slowed to 0.3 percent from 0.5 percent in the second quarter, despite a housing market surge.
Canada’s goods-producing and service industries both grew, led by the energy sector, as crude oil extraction more than recovered from a period of maintenance and production woes.

Notable increases were also seen in manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade and the transportation and warehousing sector.
But business investment in plants and equipment fell for the first time since 2009.
Domestic demand has been slowing throughout 2011 compared with 2010.
However, exports jumped 3.4 percent in the third quarter after declining in the previous quarter. Two exceptions were a continued slide in automotive exports and a dip in forestry exports.
After weeks of steep declines, the S&P TSX Composite Index jumped almost 250 points in early trading, while the Canadian dollar gained slightly in value.