A new report shows that America’s private sector added 77,000 jobs in February.
The ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday shows that hiring has slowed to “the smallest level gains since July.”
“Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead.”
The goods-producing industry added 42,000 jobs in February, while the construction and manufacturing industries added 26,000 and 18,000 jobs, respectively.
The natural resources/mining industry lost 2,000 jobs.
In the service-producing industry, the private sector added 36,000 jobs.
Leisure/hospitality added the most jobs with 41,000. Professional/ business services (27,000), financial activities (26,000), and other services (17,000) were the other industries that added the most jobs in February.
The service-producing industries that lost jobs were trade/transportation/utilities (33,000), education/health services (28,000), and information (14,000).
The report also showed that the median change in annual pay for job-stayers in the private sector was 4.7 percent. For job-changers, the median change was 6.7 percent.
In February 2025, the American private sector employed over 134 million people.
The 77,000 jobs added by the private sector in February is far less than the amount the private sector added last month.
The private sector added 183,000 jobs in January. The annual pay percentage increased 4.7 percent, and it remained the same in February.
“We had a strong start to 2025 but it masked a dichotomy in the labor market,” Richardson said in January. “Consumer-facing industries drove hiring, while job growth was weaker in business
services and production.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
