Employment in the US private sector rose by 140,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP National Employment Report released today.

A media report indicated that a survey of economists had projected a 150,000 increase in private employment.

Total jobs added in January was revised upward to 111,000 from 107,000.

“Job gains remain solid. Pay gains are trending lower but are still above inflation,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a press release. “In short, the labor market is dynamic but doesn’t tip the scales in terms of a Fed rate decision this year.”

The report also found that small businesses gained 13,000 jobs in February, while midsize and large establishments added 69,000 and 61,000 jobs, respectively.

Here are the estimates of employment growth by industry:

• Goods-producing, up 30,000
  • Natural resources/mining, down 4,000
  • Construction, up 28,000
  • Manufacturing, up 6,000
• Service-providing, up 110,000
  • Trade/transportation/utilities, up 24,000
  • Information, down 2,000
  • Financial activities, up 17,000
  • Professional/business services, up 5,000
  • Education/health services, up 11,000
  • Leisure/hospitality, up 41,000
  • Other services, up 14,000

Total private-sector employment in the US was nearly 131.4 million in February, according to the report.

The ADP National Employment Report, produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, uses ADP’s anonymized and aggregated payroll data of more than 25 million US employees to provide a representative picture of the labor market. The report details the current month’s total private employment change and weekly job data from the previous month.