US Private Sector shows steady job gains

U.S. private-sector employers added a bigger-than-expected 198,000 jobs in February, another sign of labor-market improvement, a report by a payrolls processor showed Wednesday. The ADP report also revised January’s hiring figures to show firms added 215,000 jobs that month, 23,000 more than initially reported. Economists had forecast the ADP employment report would show a gain of 170,000 jobs in February. The ADP report is derived from actual payroll data and tracks total non-farm private employment each month. The February report suggests that higher taxes and looming government spending cuts did not discourage employers from adding jobs. The report also indicates that the government’s February jobs report, to be released Friday, may be above economist forecasts of a gain of 152,000 jobs.