ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 117,000 Jobs in February

Thursday, March 4th, 2021

Private sector employment increased by 117,000 jobs from January to February according to the February ADP® National Employment ReportTM.  Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Reportis produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody's Analytics.  The report, which is derived from ADP's actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

February 2021 Report Highlights*

View the ADP National Employment Report Infographic at www.adpemploymentreport.com.

Total U.S. Nonfarm Private Employment:     117,000

By Company Size

- Small businesses:     32,000

  • 1-19 employees     21,000
  • 20-49 employees     12,000

- Medium businesses:     57,000

  • 50-499 employees     57,000

- Large businesses:     28,000

  • 500-999 employees     33,000
  • 1,000+ employees     -5,000

By Sector

- Goods-producing:     -14,000

  • Natural resources/mining     3,000
  • Construction     -3,000
  • Manufacturing     -14,000

- Service-providing:     131,000

  • Trade/transportation/utilities     48,000
  • Information     -3,000
  • Financial activities     0
  • Professional/business services     22,000
         - Professional/technical services     10,000
         - Management of companies/enterprises     0
         - Administrative/support services     12,000
  • Education/health services     35,000
         - Health care/social assistance     32,000
         - Education     3,000
  • Leisure/hospitality     26,000
  • Other services     3,000

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

- Franchise Employment**

  • Franchise jobs     35,500

**Complete details on franchise employment can be found here.

"The labor market continues to post a sluggish recovery across the board," said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "We're seeing large-sized companies increasingly feeling the effects of COVID-19, while job growth in the goods producing sector pauses. With the pandemic still in the driver's seat, the service sector remains well below its pre-pandemic levels; however, this sector is one that will likely benefit the most over time with reopenings and increased consumer confidence."

The matched sample used to develop the ADP National Employment Report was derived from ADP payroll data, which represents 460,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 26 million workers in the U.S. The January total of jobs added was revised from 174,000 to 195,000. 

To obtain additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including additional charts, supporting data and the schedule of future release dates, or to subscribe to the monthly email alerts and RSS feeds, please visit www.adpemploymentreport.com.

The March 2021 ADP National Employment Report will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET on March 31, 2021.