US private payrolls increased slightly less than expected in February, data showed on Wednesday (Mar 6).

Private payrolls increased by 140,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 111,000 in January, the ADP Employment report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing by 150,000 last month, compared with the previously reported 107,000 in January.

The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of the release on Friday of the Labor Department’s more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for February.

It has tended to grossly overstate the slowdown in the labour market compared with the official employment data.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to report that private payrolls rose by 160,000 jobs last month after increasing 317,000 in January.

Total nonfarm payrolls are estimated to have increased by 200,000 jobs after rising 353,000 in the prior month. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.7 per cent and annual wage growth slowing to 4.4 per cent from 4.5 per cent in January. REUTERS

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