ADP: February private payrolls rise 63,000, led by health services and construction

Private employers added 63,000 jobs in February per ADP, topping the downwardly revised 11,000 in January and beating expectations. Hiring was concentrated in education and health services (58,000) and construction (19,000), with most other sectors flat. Wages rose 4.5% for stayers and 6.3% for job switchers, the smallest gap since ADP began tracking the metric. Job gains were strongest at smaller firms, and breadth remained limited ahead of Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics payrolls release.