Private-sector hiring unexpectedly jumped stateside in February, providing the latest sign that rocky financial markets and slowing growth abroad haven’t derailed the U.S. job market.
Payroll processor Automatic Data Processing reported this morning that private payrolls in the U.S. rose by 214,000 last month. The report is based on data collected from ADP clients in addition to lagged government figures.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a modest slowdown in hiring and projected an increase of 185,000. The January gain was revised lower by 12,000 to 193,000.
The U.S. service sector, which represents most of the economy’s jobs south of the border and has been offsetting a struggling manufacturing segment, drove payrolls higher after sputtering the month before. Service-providing firms added 208,000 employees in February, up from a downwardly revised 174,000 in January and again buoyed by firms offering professional and business services.
