According to the national employment report released by the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) in the United States on Wednesday (March 5th), only 77,000 new jobs were added by private companies in February, which is significantly lower than economists’ expectations.
Based on the latest seasonally adjusted data released by the payroll processing company ADP, private companies added 77,000 new jobs in February, far below the estimated 148,000 by Dow Jones & Company, and also a significant drop from the January data. The number of new jobs added in January was revised from the initial report of 183,000 to 186,000. The increase in new job positions in private companies in February was also the smallest since July last year.
In terms of industries, the leisure and hospitality sector added 41,000 positions, leading the job growth in February. The professional and business services sector added 27,000 positions, while the financial activities and construction sectors each added 26,000 positions. The manufacturing and other services sectors added 18,000 and 17,000 job positions respectively.
On the other hand, the trade, transportation, and utilities sector reduced 33,000 job positions in February, while the education and health services sector decreased by 28,000 positions, and the information services sector by 14,000 positions. The employment in the natural resources and mining industry decreased by 2,000.
In terms of business sizes, large enterprises with over 500 employees added 37,000 job positions, mid-sized companies with 50 to 499 employees hired 46,000 workers, and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees reduced 12,000 job positions.
ADP’s report also shows that workers’ annual wage growth remained steady at 4.7% compared to the previous month.
Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, stated in a press release: “Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending may have led to the slowdown in layoffs or hiring last month. Our data, combined with other recent indicators, indicate hesitancy among employers in hiring when assessing the future economic environment.”
The weaker-than-expected job growth data provided by ADP is the latest in a series of economic data that has raised concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy, with President Trump’s new tariff plan adding uncertainty to the country’s economic outlook.
ADP’s data is released before the U.S. Department of Labor’s non-farm payroll report, set to be published on Friday morning. Although the statistical data provided by these two reports sometimes differ significantly, ADP’S report serves as a precursor to the government report. Economists expect the government data to show an increase of 160,000 job positions in February, higher than the reported 143,000 in January.