Companies added more workers than projected in December, indicating the U.S. job market finished 2012 with momentum, according to a private report based on payrolls.

The 215,000 increase in employment was the largest since February and followed a revised 148,000 gain the prior month that was larger than initially reported, figures from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. The median forecast of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a December advance of 140,000.

Sustained growth in hiring would help generate the wage gains needed to spur consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. A Labor Department report tomorrow may show private payrolls rose by 150,000 last month, and unemployment held at an almost four-year low, according to the Bloomberg survey median.