Good morning, CFOs. Private-sector hiring increases but JOLTS report hints at cooling labor market; new guidelines overhaul federal dietary advice; plus, why Ford can’t fill a six-figure job.

The U.S. jobs picture takes the spotlight this week, with the important jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics set for release on Friday. Market watchers got a few of the latest signs from a pair of reports from my colleague Matt Grossman.

Private-sector hiring moved back into positive territory in December, human-resources firm ADP estimated in its latest monthly report, Grossman writes.

Big vs. small: Businesses added a net 41,000 new employees last month, after shedding 29,000 on net in November, according to ADP’s running estimate. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see 48,000 new private-sector jobs in ADP’s figures, which are derived from the anonymized payrolls of the company’s corporate clients.

Big companies pulled back slightly from the job market last month, ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said. But small businesses, which had cut roles on net in November, grew their staffs last month, putting private-sector jobs in positive territory overall, she said.

Still to come: The estimate lands two days before the government’s official December jobs report, hotly anticipated by analysts and investors for evidence of whether the job market continued to cool in the home stretch of last year. Economists are expecting the December jobs report to show that the whole economy—not just the private sector—added 73,000 jobs last month.

But hiring has slowed markedly, leaving analysts uncertain about the economy’s direction. So it largely still seems like a mixed bag. Grossman also reported on the JOLTS report, which hinted at a cooling labor market.

Keep an eye out here for the latest on Friday’s jobs report, or check out for live market updates here.

Zoom's chief financial officer said the company uses outside products from vendors such as Klarity for certain artificial-intelligence tasks. The Jan. 7 edition of The Morning Ledger misidentified the vendor as Clarity.

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The BLS releases its preliminary estimates for third-quarter productivity and labor costs.

Trump administration officials made sweeping changes Wednesday to U.S. federal dietary guidelines, recommending that people avoid highly processed foods, dramatically increase protein intake and skip added sugar, Jesse Newman, Liz Essley Whyte and Andrea Petersen report.

The new guidelines urge people to cook more meals at home, avoid packaged food like chips, cookies and candy—and eat protein at every meal. They echo the government’s previous advice that fruits, vegetables, whole grains, poultry, seafood and nuts form the basis of a healthy diet.

But they also endorse foods like red meat and full-fat dairy, while taking a hard line against highly processed foods, added sugar and refined carbohydrates like white bread.

Why it matters for CFOs: The recommendations, issued by the U.S. Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, represent one of the biggest remakes of federal dietary advice since the guidelines were first issued in 1980. They mark a major challenge by the Trump administration to food makers that supply swaths of the grocery store—and most of what Americans eat every day.

• Here’s What the New Federal Dietary Guidelines Mean for Your Meals

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AltaGas, the Calgary, Alberta-based energy infrastructure company, named Sean Brown, who most recently served as senior vice president and chief financial officer at Gibson Energy, as CFO. He succeeds James Harbilas, who joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer in June 2019 and will serve as a strategic adviser until he retires on April 1.

—Colin Kellaher contributed to today’s Ledger.

The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

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