Payroll service company ADP released a report on Wednesday (8th) that as the US labor market continued to be active, the growth rate of corporate employment accelerated in February.
The number of private employment increased by 242,000 in the month, higher than the “Dow Jones“Estimated 205,000, much higher than January’s 119,000 revised up from 106,000.
Wage growth slowed down slightly, with the annual growth rate of those who stayed in their jobs at 7.2%, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. Job hoppers got a 14.3 percent raise, slightly down from January’s 14.9 percent.
By industry, the leisure and hospitality sector led the job gains with an increase of 83,000 jobs. Financial activity rose by 62,000, while manufacturing posted a strong gain of 43,000 as the sector benefited from a mild winter.
Other job gains included 35,000 in education and health services, 34,000 in the “other services” category and 25,000 in natural resources and mining. Professional and business services lost 36,000 jobs, while construction lost 16,000.
All of the job gains were from companies employing 50 or more employees. Small businesses lost a net 61,000 jobs, mostly from businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
The ADP report is a precursor to the Labor Department’s more closely watched non-farm payrolls report due on Friday (10th).
Despite ADP’s new partnership with Stanford University last year, there are still big differences between the two statistics in some cases. For example, the Labor Department estimated that payrolls rose by 517,000 in January, more than four times what ADP reported.
according to”Dow Jones“Estimates, Friday’s jobs report is expected to add 225,000 people in February and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.4%.