December Private Employment Down Nearly 700,000

One marker of US unemployment that comes out a bit faster than official stats is the ADP private employment figure.  That decreased by 693,000 in December of 2008.  Small and medium-sized businesses took the biggest hits, with businesses employing 1-49 employees going down by 281,000 and medium-size businesses axing payroll by 321,000.

 Ouch.  

CNN Money has more data.