Private employment grew by 242,000 jobs in February, after the addition of 106,000 jobs in January, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.
“We’re seeing robust hiring,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, “which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth is still quite elevated. The modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the nearterm.”
Leisure/hospitality again led job gains in the private sector, adding 83,000 jobs in February. Financial activities (+62,000), manufacturing (+43,000), and education/health services (+35,000) also had notable job growth for the month. Meanwhile, professional/business services lost 36,000 jobs and construction declined by 16,000 jobs.
Small establishments (1-49 employees) lost the most jobs over the month at -61,000, and the largest businesses (500+ employees) added the most jobs at +160,000.
Annual pay growth slowed slightly in February, falling to 7.2% for job stayers and 14.3% for job changers. Pay increases were highest in leisure/hospitality (10.1%) and natural resources/mining (7.8%) and lowest in information (6.5%) and professional/business services (6.5%). By establishment size, pay growth ranged from 5.6% (for businesses with 1-19 employees) to 7.5% (for businesses with 50-249 employees and those with 500+ employees).
