ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 183,000 Jobs in February

Staff Report

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Private sector employment increased by 183,000 jobs from  January to February according to the February ADP National Employment Report.  Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody's Analytics.  The report, which is derived from ADP's actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.  

February 2019 Report Highlights

View the ADP National Employment Report Infographic at www.adpemploymentreport.com.

Total U.S. Nonfarm Private Employment: 183,000

By Company Size

- Small businesses: 12,000

1-19 employees     -8,000

20-49 employees      20,000

- Medium businesses:     95,000

50-499 employees     95,000

- Large businesses: 77,000

500-999 employees     22,000

1,000+ employees     54,000

By Sector

- Goods-producing: 44,000

Natural resources/mining     3,000

Construction     25,000

Manufacturing     17,000

- Service-providing: 139,000

Trade/transportation/utilities     14,000

Information     7,000

Financial activities     21,000

Professional/business services     49,000

Professional/technical services     21,000

Management of companies/enterprises     6,000

Administrative/support services     22,000

Education/health services     37,000

Health care/social assistance     39,000

Education     -2,000

Leisure/hospitality     4,000

Other services     8,000

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

- Franchise Employment

Franchise jobs     24,500

"We saw a modest slowdown in job growth this month," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.  "Midsized companies have been the strongest performer for the past year.   There was a sharp decline in small business growth as these firms continue to struggle with offering competitive wages and benefits."

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said, "The economy has throttled back and so too has job growth. The job slowdown is clearest in the retail and travel industries, and at smaller companies. Job gains are still strong, but they have likely seen their high watermark for this expansion." 

The matched sample used to develop the ADP National Employment Report was derived from ADP payroll data, which represents 411,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 24 million workers in the U.S.  The January total of jobs added was revised up from 213,000 to 300,000.

In February's report, the following scheduled annual revisions have been reflected in the estimates of employment shown in the ADP National Employment Report:

New regression coefficients and historical job growth estimates based on ADP data and revised payroll data through December 2018 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

Incorporation of March 2018 industry and size class data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) in the generation process; and

Adjustments of historical job growth estimates consistent with QCEW data through March 2018 and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual benchmarking process.