-Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP
US private employers added more than 200,000 workers to payrolls in February for the 13th consecutive month, in a latest sign that strong hiring should underpin the world's number one economy this year. According to the payroll processor ADP, US companies created 212,000 jobs last month, recording a solid gain, but missing expectations for a 219,000 new jobs and following 250,000 jobs in January. Tomorrow's non-farm payroll report is predicted to show 235,000 people were added to the country's workforce last month, a slight decline compared to January's numbers, while the jobless rate should fall further to 5.6%. Solid job gains are encouraging as strengthening labour market suggests that the Fed may decide to increase interest rates sooner than expected. The US labour market coupled with inflation are key determinants when it comes to the debate about the timing of the monetary policy normalization.
A separate report showed US services sector expanded in February, with ISM's non-manufacturing PMI rising slightly to 56.9 last month from 56.7 in January. At the same time Markit reported the fastest pace of activity growth in the US services sector in February, as customers benefitted from improved economic conditions and falling crude prices. Markit's services PMI jumped to 57.1 in February, up from 54.2 in the preceding month, marking the 16th month in a row in expansion.
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