U.S. private-sector employment rose by 235,000 jobs in February from January, indicating the job market continues to tighten just as the Federal Reserve expects to raise rates.
"We see persistent gains across most industries with leisure and hospitality and retail leading the way as consumer spending kicked up. At this pace of job growth employers will soon become hard-pressed to find qualified workers," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of ADP Research Institute.
The increase in private sector employment was well-above Econoday's consensus estimate of 205,000. The total number of jobs added in January was revised up to 244,000 from 234,000.
Service-sector employment increased by 198,000 jobs in February, with leisure and hospitality posting the largest number of gains at 50,000. The professional and business services sector added 46,000 jobs and employment in trade, transportation and utilities sector climbed by 44,000. The information sector lost 1,000 jobs during the month.
Employment in the goods-producing sector rose by 37,000 jobs. The construction sector reported gains of 21,000, the manufacturing sector added 14,000 and the natural resources and mining sector added 2,000 jobs.
By company size, medium-sized business added 97,000 jobs. Employment at large businesses increased by 70,000 jobs and small businesses posted job gains of 68,000.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. produces the report in collaboration with Moody's Analytics. The report, based on ADP payroll data representing 411,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 24 million workers, measures the monthly change in total nonfarm private employment on a seasonally adjusted basis.
