The US private sector added 271,000 jobs in December, according to the ADP National Employment Report. It’s the largest gain since February 2017.

“Businesses continue to add aggressively to their payrolls despite the stock market slump and the trade war,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. “Favorable December weather also helped lift the job market. At the current pace of job growth, low unemployment will get even lower.”

MarketWatch reported December’s gain was well above the 175,000 jobs forecast from economists.

Large businesses added 54,000 jobs, while midsize firms added 129,000 and small companies increased employment by 89,000.

Service-providing jobs rose by 224,000, which included 66,000 jobs added in professional/business services and 61,000 new jobs in education/health services. The information sector posted the smallest increase, up by 6,000 jobs.

The goods-producing sector added 47,000 jobs, including 37,000 in construction.

The natural resources/mining sector posted the only employment decrease last month, down by 2,000 jobs.

“We wrapped up 2018 with another month of significant growth in the labor market,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Although there were increases in most sectors, the busy holiday season greatly impacted both trade and leisure and hospitality. Small businesses also experienced their strongest month of job growth all year.”