US private sector employment growth announced

The ADP private sector employment data in the US has been released. Private sector employment in the US increased by 140,000 in February. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an increase of 150,000. The private sector employment increase for January, previously announced as 107,000, was revised to 111,000. The increase in wages of workers who changed jobs accelerated for the first time since November 2022. However, wages for workers who remained in their jobs increased at the slowest pace since August 2021. "Employment gains remain strong. Wage gains are trending down but still above inflation," ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in a statement regarding the data. Employment growth was broad-based, led by the leisure and hospitality, construction, trade and transportation sectors. The gains were also spread across regions and businesses. ADP bases its findings on payroll data covering more than 25 million US private sector workers.