Employment in the private sector rose by 206,000 jobs in Novembe

Growth in private-sector payrolls sharply accelerated in November, led by the service-producing sector and small businesses, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday.

Employment in the private sector rose by 206,000 jobs in November — the largest gain since last December and almost twice the average increase in recent months. The October level was revised up to 130,000 from a prior estimate of 110,000.

“November’s increase in employment normally would be associated with a decline in the unemployment rate. An acceleration of employment is consistent with data showing that GDP growth, which slowed sharply around the turn of the year, is gradually recovering,” said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which produces the report from anonymous payroll data supplied by Automatic Data Processing Inc.

Employment rose 178,000 in the service-providing sector, and 28,000 in the goods-producing sector. Employment rose 110,000 at small businesses, 84,000 at medium businesses and 12,000 at large businesses, according to ADP.

While economists have noted a divergence between estimates from ADP and the government, markets look to ADP’s report on private-sector payrolls to provide some guidance on the U.S. Labor Department’s jobs estimate, which will be released Friday and includes information on both private- and public-sector payrolls.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the Labor Department to report rising employment, with overall nonfarm payrolls up 125,000 in November, compared with 80,000 in October. Analysts also expect the unemployment rate to remain at 9.0%