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ADP private payrolls rose 242,000 in February, adding to pressure on Fed

Published 03/08/2023, 08:17 AM
Updated 03/08/2023, 08:27 AM
© Reuters

© Reuters

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- The U.S. labor market is still refusing to slow down meaningfully.

Private-sector payrolls grew some 242,000 in the month through mid-February, according to a survey by payrolls processor ADP released on Wednesday. That was 40,000 - or 20% - above expectations and more than twice January's rate of 119,000 (a number that was also revised higher from initial estimates).

The numbers are further evidence to suggest that the economy is still far from the recession that many expect, despite a succession of sharp interest rate rises last year by the Federal Reserve.

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin was quoted by newswires Wednesday as saying that the "labor market has been extraordinarily resilient."

The numbers add to a body of employment and inflation data over recent weeks that have all come out stronger than seemed likely at the end of last year. Those data have formed the context for Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's warning on Tuesday that the central bank may revert to larger rate hikes in its fight to tame inflation, having slowed the pace of tightening at its last two policy meetings.

"We're seeing robust hiring, which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth remains quite elevated," ADP's chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement, adding that "the modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the near-term."

According to ADP's calculations, the median wage across a sample size of 10 million people grew by 7.2% in the 12 months through February (for those who didn't change their job in that time). While that's the slowest growth in 12 months, it's still well above official data for average hourly earnings and unlikely to be viewed positively by the Fed. Even more unsettling is that wages for those who changed jobs were able to raise their income by 14.3%. That rate, too, is declining - but only gently. It had peaked at 16.4% in June.

Latest comments

hello sir have a nice day oh you My problem the bank can't receive about the game the manager said me but i'm not to open account bcause bcuz complaining the manager located our branches but I'm finished already to open account online in security bank 5,000 if for opening account when I'm starting okay but the next about Union Bank but not yet also bcause very big amount 10,000 very harder my situation until no financial coming of my self it's true but i need help okay i'm explained the financial salary my house distroyin old nipa roof very poorly but god knows about my situation now I'm laying down now it's very early my brain doing thinking about how to solve my sister invite to travel in manila but not yet no money harder than the stone okay not this month but i don't know I'm really scary okay bye
Not an issue.... investors will still wait for upcoming future ADPs......
Pump more weapon to Ukraine may be the reason to heat up inflation not the jobless peoples who just got an unknown work.
its a good thing
Biden is a data magician
when did having a job and growth on the job came to be perceived as negative? so you want people to be rather jobless and on the streets? lol The fed's reckless quantitative easing during covid is solely responsible for the current persistent inflation, which wont go away anytime soon
it's not good to have jobless people but unemployment rate is on 50 years low, so if it goes up a little isn't a problem. The problem is that there are shortage of qualified people and wages are going up to fast adding to inflation. On the other hand, people with jobs and higher wages spend more and that adds to inflation too. I wish I lived in the US
*too fast
metallica rocks you need to take a basic economy course.
This is very frustrating to the MAGAcons and other America haters.
.. don't respond to Brad. He's bought and paid for by MSNBC and CNN. Reality doesn't matter to leftists. They believe what they are programmed to believe.
Yes, CNN and MSNBC pay me to post comments here. Paranoid and delusional.
...lol.. the bought and paid for comment was a reference to your consistently cultish left-wing bias. nobody actually believes you are paid by msnbc or CNN for goodness sakes..smh although you are correct... You are paranoid and delusional.. we know this, but thanks for confirming
Millions of homeless people now also report income to IRS to make GDP rocket. lol
One gets the distinct impression you have no idea what you are talking about.
Biden is the best president of all time
lambs to the slaughter ...
More jobs, less productivity.  Welcome back to the Days of Malaise. Stagflation, Part Deux.
Sounds terrible. Too bad none of that aligns with reality.
Biden=jobs machine.
and yet Biden keeps trotting out the factually incorrect number of 12 million job created. Bidens job creation abilities are questionable not laudable.
Math is MAGA hard. When Trump left office, US had 145M jobs. Now, 157M. Difference = 12M. Ask mommy if you can cover subtraction in home school.
... I guess they never covered critical thinking skills in public school. Let me help. Yes Brad, when you do the simple math, one # is bigger than the other. Now attributing all that gain to Biden is where the complexity and actual usage of your brain comes into affect. I know higher-level brain function is difficult for some people but it's not hard to realize that Biden is not responsible for people going back to the same jobs that they had prior to covid. Thats not job-creation. Not unless you're a knuckle-dragger. may want to get a manicure there bud.
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