The numbers: Private payrolls rose by 106,000 in January, according to the payroll services firm ADP on Wednesday.  That is a significant drop from the revised 253,000 jobs added in December.

Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 190,000 private sector jobs.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slipped to 107.1 this month from 109.0 in December. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index at 109.0. The survey places more emphasis on the labor market, which remains tight.

US home prices dropped for the fifth month in a row in November, as rising mortgage rates pushed prospective buyers out of the housing market late last year and prices continued to cool, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, released Tuesday.