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Business Title: ADP: Private Sector Adds 217,000 Jobs Private-sector payrolls expanded at a solid pace in February, but layoff announcements increased for the second month in a row, according to two separate reports released Wednesday. Private-sector jobs in the U.S. rose by 217,000 last month, according to a national employment report published by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. WSJ's Paul Vigna reports payroll numbers from ADP indicate better-than-expected news on the employment front, which could offset markets being spooked by oil prices the past several sessions. Economists had expected ADP to report a job gain of 170,000 in February. The January data were revised to show a rise of 189,000 versus the 187,000 increase first reported. For February, the ADP report said, "The recent pattern of rising employment gains since the middle of last year was reinforced by today's report, as the average gain from December through February (217,000) is well above the average gain over the prior six months (63,000)." The ADP survey tallies only private-sector jobs, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payroll data, to be released Friday, include government workers. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect total nonfarm payrolls increased by a solid 200,000 jobs in February, after jobs increased only 36,000 in January. The disappointing January gain may have been the result of extreme winter weather across parts of the U.S. The February unemployment rate is expected to rise to 9.1% from 9.0% in January. If the February expectation proves true, the U.S. jobless rate will have been at or above 9.0% for 22 months. During the time after the severe 1981-82 recession, the unemployment rate was at least 9.0% for only 19 months. The latest ADP report showed large businesses with 500 employees or more hired 13,000 new employees, and medium-size businesses added 104,000 workers in February and small businesses that employ fewer than 50 workers added 100,000 new workers. Service-sector jobs increased by 202,000 last month, while factory jobs rose by 20,000. The modest gain in factory jobs runs counter to the strong employment index reported in Tuesday's Institute for Supply Management report on manufacturing. The ISM's employment index jumped to 64.5 in February, one of the highest readings ever. ADP, of Roseland, N.J., says it processes payments of one in six U.S. workers, while Macroeconomic Advisers, based in St. Louis, is an economic-consulting firm. In another jobs report released Wednesday, TrimTabs estimated payrolls increased by 158,000 slots in February. TrimTabs calculates job growth through the analysis of daily income tax deposits to the U.S. Treasury from all salaried U.S. employees. But layoff trends have taken an ominous turn. The number of planned job cuts announced by U.S.-based companies increased for the second consecutive month in February, rising to 50,702, the highest total since March 2010, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The number was 32% up from January's tally of 38,519. The Challenger report warned, "Rising energy costs could force employers to postpone hiring plans. At worse, increased costs could kill the fragile recovery and spur another round of layoffs."
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