US: US: ADP Employment Change arrives at +117K in February vs. +177K expected

• Private sector employment in US rose at a softer pace than expected in February.
• US Dollar Index clings to modest daily gains around 91.00 after the data.

Employment in the US' private sector increased by 117,000 in February, the monthly data published by the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Research Institue revealed on Wednesday. This reading fell short of the market expectation of 177,000. On a positive note, however, January's reading got revised up to 195,000 from 174,000.

Commenting on the data, “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," Richardson added. "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."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index showed no immediate reaction to this report and was last seen gaining 0.25% on the day at 91.01.