Private employers added 164,000 jobs in December and wages were up 5.4 percent from last year, according to the new National Employment Report released by the ADP Research Institute on Thursday. “We’re returning to a labor market that’s very much aligned with pre-pandemic hiring,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, in a press release. “While wages didn’t drive the recent bout of inflation, now that pay growth has retreated, any risk of a wage-price spiral has all but disappeared.” December marked the fourth consecutive month of private-sector job growth, with a big bump in leisure and hospitality hiring — two industries…
