Private sector companies hired 170,000 in January, down from 292,000 in December

Private sector companies were hesitant to hire in January, according to a report by payroll processor ADP.

The private sector added 170,000 jobs in January, ADP said Wednesday. That's down from a revised 292,000 jobs added the month before, and lower than the 200,000 economists' polled by Briefing.com were expecting.

Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 employees, made up more than half of the job gains, hiring 95,000 people.

Large companies with 500 or more employees hired only 3,000 new workers, and medium-sized businesses added 72,000 to their payrolls.

The ADP report typically sets the tone for the government's highly anticipated monthly jobs report, due Friday, but its figures don't match up exactly with the government's numbers.

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney expect the Labor Department's data to show 132,500 jobs were added in January.

That would mark a steep slowdown in hiring from December, when 200,000 jobs created.

The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 8.6 percent.

Courtesy of CNN.