Gallup's job creation index totaled 19 in January, unchanged from December and close to the overall 2013 average of 20.

The index is derived by subtracting the percentage of American workers who say their employers are cutting workers from the percentage of workers who say their employers are adding workers. In January, the 35 percent reported an addition of workers, and 16 percent reported a reduction.

The numbers are worse in the government sector. The index there was 8 in January, down from 10 in December, but up from the overall 2013 average of 5.

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The federal government numbers are weakest, with the index chalking up a negative-7 in January. The index totaled 17 in January for state employees and 10 for local government workers.

But help may be on the way for federal government hiring, writes Gallup's Brandon Moore.

"The recent bipartisan budget deal seeks to relax some of the damaging cuts of sequestration, with Congressional Budget Office projections showing federal outlays increasing by roughly 3 percent in 2014," he says.

"This may contribute to better hiring conditions in the federal government in the near future."

The survey of 17,484 workers was taken Jan. 2-31.

Investors eagerly await the government's January jobs report, due Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg produced a median forecast of a 188,000 payroll increase for last month.

"As for market nerves, the latest batch of data does not bode well for Friday’s employment report, which means investors may yet anticipate further volatility ahead of its release," Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, wrote in a commentary obtained by The New York Times.

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