US ADP private employment grew 183k in February, slightly below expectation of 190k. By company size, small businesses added 24k jobs, medium businesses added 26k, large businesses added 133k. By sector, goods-production employment grew only 11k. But service-providing employment surged 172k.
“The labor market remains firm, as private-sector payrolls continued to expand in February,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Job creation remained heavily concentrated in large companies, which continue to be the strongest performer.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “COVID-19 will need to break through the job market firewall if it is to do significant damage to the economy. The firewall has some cracks, but judging by the February employment gain it should be strong enough to weather most scenarios.”
