- Moody's
US private companies continue to create new positions, with 200,000 jobs added this month, according to payrolls processor ADP and Moody's Analytics. Economists had expected the ADP National Employment Report to show a gain of 194,000 jobs. However, private payrolls in February were revised down to 205,000 from an initially reported 214,000 surge. The services sector was the biggest contributor to the employment gain, creating 191,000 jobs. The figure, however, represented a decline form 204,000 in February. Increasing employment levels allow US households to spend more lavishly, thereby bolstering economic activity and shielding the world's biggest economy against external headwinds. The report release comes two days prior to a more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report from the Labor Department. Economists anticipate the report to show growth of 200,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.9%. In a speech earlier in the week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen noted that improvement in the labour market over the past two years exceeded all expectations. Nevertheless, Yellen insisted on a slower path and more cautious approach to interest rate hikes amid global economic and financial uncertainties, which pose risks to the world's number one economy. Yet Yellen expected headwinds from slowdown abroad, low oil prices and uncertainty over China to wane and allow the US economy to continue recovering and justify gradual series of rate hikes.
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