Washington (awp/afp) – The private sector in the United States added more jobs than expected in February, reflecting the continued recovery of American activity as the Omicron wave recedes, according to the survey monthly report from business services firm ADP released on Wednesday.
In February, 475,000 new jobs were created by the private sector, while analysts expected 350,000 positions, according to the median estimate of Briefing.com.
The ADP survey also revised its January figure sharply upwards to 509,000, a correction that follows an initial estimate of -301,000.
“Hiring remains robust but capped by the post-pandemic labor shortage,” Nela Richardson, chief economist for the ADP survey, said in a statement.
She points out that large companies with more than 1,000 employees, which largely dominated job creation, were able to “offer higher wages and social benefits and posted the strongest figure since the recovery”, underlined the economist.
Small businesses, on the other hand, have lost ground, “difficult to follow the rhythm of wages while the pool of qualified workers is limited”.
The US Department of Labor will release official labor market numbers for February on Friday.
Analysts are counting on 400,000 net job creations and an unemployment rate down slightly to 3.9%, against 4% the month before.
In January the American labor market was surprised by its vitality despite the impact of the Omicron variant. Some 467,000 new jobs had been created, far more than expected.
According to the ADP survey, in February, hiring was strongest in the leisure and hotel sector, which includes bars and restaurants, particularly affected by the pandemic (170,000 jobs created).
As usual, the service sector as a whole is the most job creator with 417,000 hires against 57,000 for the goods production sector.
“Net private payroll growth strengthened in February, as the effects of Omicron that had led to absenteeism dissipated last month,” commented Rubeela Farooqi, economist for HFE.
It signals “a positive dynamic, even if the supply of labor remains limited for companies”.
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