ADP-Moody's: U.S. added 117,000 private-sector jobs in February

March 3 (UPI) -- Businesses in the United States added almost 120,000 jobs during the month of February, well short of what many economists were expecting, according to a private-sector assessment Wednesday.

ADP and Moody's Analytics said in its monthly report that about 117,000 private payrolls were added for the month. Most experts predicted that figure would be about 225,000.

According to the report, mid-sized businesses saw the greatest growth (57,000 jobs), followed by small businesses (32,000) and large companies (28,000).

The services sector was responsible for the vast majority of the new jobs, about 131,000, the report shows. The transportation, utilities, education and leisure and hospitality industries also contributed significant gains.

Manufacturing, construction and the goods-producing sectors saw sizable declines in payrolls, the report said.

Wednesday's report comes as President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is awaiting approval in the Senate. The House passed the large-scale relief and stimulus bill last weekend.

Biden spoke with Senate Democrats on Tuesday to discuss a strategy in passing the package, which includes another direct stimulus payment for most Americans, funding to distribute COVID-19 vaccines and recovery aid for state and local governments.

The ADP-Moody's report always comes a couple days before the Labor Department's official jobs report, which will be released Friday.