By Ed Frankl
Hiring among U.S. private-sector employers accelerated in February, reflecting a enduringly strong labor market, despite signals of slowing wage growth.
Employment in the nonfarm private sector rose by 140,000 jobs, up from a revised 111,000 according to data from the ADP National Employment Report published Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a rise of 150,000 in new jobs.
However, annual pay gains job-stayers were 5.1% in February, the smallest gain since August 2021, continuing the slowdown of recent months.
"Job gains remain solid. Pay gains are trending lower but are still above inflation," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
"The labor market is dynamic, but doesn't tip the scales in terms of a Fed rate decision this year," she added.
The services sector added 110,000 jobs in areas like trade, finance and hospitality, while goods-producing sectors added 30,000 jobs, largely in construction.
By region, the West saw the largest increase in jobs in February, adding 42,000 positions, most of them in the Pacific area. The Northeast added the fewest, with 20,000 new jobs.
The February jobs report from the Labor Department will be released Friday. Economists are expecting 198,000 new jobs and for the unemployment rate--which was at 3.7% in January--to stay the same.
The ADP estimate is based on aggregated payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. workers and is independent from Labor Department official data. Pay data is based on the salaries of almost 10 million individual employees over a 12-month period.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-06-24 0858ET
