US ADP Report: February ADP points to strength in U.S. economy

Today ADP employment numbers were released from the US for the month of February.

ADP number shows the US labor markets remains strong despite recent weakness.

There are two things to note in the headline that,

• ADP report indicates that the economy remains strong in terms of jobs gain but close monitoring needed as data suggests some weakness.
   
• January payroll saw a revision, where the headline was revised up to 300,000 (from 213,000).

Key highlights –

• Non-farm private sector employment grew at 183,000 in January, the median expectation was for 189,000.
• The small business sector added 12,000 jobs, compared to 63,000 gain last month.
• Mid-sized companies added 95,000 jobs compared to last month’s 84,000 jobs.
• The large sector added just 77,000 compared to last month’s 66,000 jobs.
• Manufacturing sector payroll registered 17,000 jobs gain compared to 33,000 jobs gain last month.
• 44,000 jobs were gained in the goods-producing sector, compared to last month’s 68,000 jobs gain.
• The construction sector added 25,000 jobs, compared to last month’s 35,000 jobs gain.
• Services sector remains the main job provider as payrolls added 139,000 people in February. January gain was 145,000.

The USD declined on the release. The dollar index is currently trading at 96.86, down 0.03 percent for the day so far.