ADP: Private Sector Added 298,000 Jobs in February

This month’s ADP National Employment Report beat expectations, showing 298,000 jobs added to private payrolls. Prior to the report’s release, economists polled by ADP were projecting the addition of 190,000 private-sector jobs.

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“February proved to be an incredibly strong month for employment with increases we have not seen in years,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, in a statement. “Gains were driven by a surge in the goods sector, while we also saw the information industry experience a notable increase.”

The report marks the first full month of Donald Trump’s presidency. While some economists argue that the president affects the economy less than you might think, there is speculation that the hiring surge is due at least in part to employers’ anticipation of reduced regulations and taxes under Trump.

“Confidence is playing a large role,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP, told CNBC. “Businesses are anticipating a lot of good stuff — tax cuts, less regulation. They are hiring more aggressively.”

In the press release accompanying the report, Zandi also notes that “(u)nseasonably mild winter weather undoubtedly played a role. But near record high job openings and record low layoffs underpin the entire job market.”

The Industries That Are Hiring Right Now

The goods-producing sector added 106,000 jobs last month, with gains concentrated in construction (+66,000 jobs), manufacturing (+32,000 jobs), and mining (+8,000 jobs).

The service-providing sector added 193,000 jobs in February. The following industries saw job gains:

• Professional/business services (+66,000 jobs)
• Leisure/hospitality (+40,000 jobs)
• Healthcare/social assistance (+38,000 jobs)
• Information (+25,000 jobs)
• Trade/transportation/utilities (+9,000 jobs)
• Financial activities (+4,000 jobs)

Economists are predicting that Friday’s report from the Labor Department will show the addition of 190,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls. The monthly Employment Situation Summary will also provide the latest unemployment figures, as well as data on wage growth. The PayScale Index, which measures the change in pay for employed U.S. workers, forecasts 3.2 percent year-over-year wage growth for Q1 2017.

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