Private sector companies in the United States added 242,000 jobs in February, more than in January and more than expected, a sign that the US labor market remains in excellent health, according to the ADP/Stanford Lab monthly survey released on Wednesday.
This is more than the 205,000 job creations anticipated by analysts, according to the MarketWatch consensus. And the number of jobs created in January has been revised up, to 119,000 instead of 106,000.
This robust level of hiring “is good for the economy and workers, but wage growth is still quite high,” preventing inflation from slowing, said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
The rise in wages was 7.2% year-on-year for people who remained in the same job, the lowest rise in the last 12 months. Leisure and hospitality jobs posted the largest increase. For those who changed jobs, wages rose 14.3% year-on-year, from 14.9% in January.
Need lower inflation
Because lowering high inflation presupposes slowing down economic activity. That is what the US central bank (Fed) is trying to do, by raising its rates, to increase the cost of credit and discourage household consumption. But the slowdown has been timid so far and prices continue to rise strongly in services, as well as those related to housing.
In January, private job creation slowed sharply due to unfavorable weather conditions, but the survey showed a still strong job market.
And this good health had been confirmed by official figures, between a rise in job creation (517,000) and a falling unemployment rate, at its lowest level since 1969 with 3.4%.
Official figures for February will be released on Friday, the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady and job creation is half that of January (225,000 expected).
Source: BFM TV
