by Calculated Risk on 3/06/2013 08:19:00 AM

From ADP:

Private sector employment increased by 198,000 jobs from January to February, according to the February, according to the January ADP National Employment Report®, which is produced by ADP® ... in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The January 2013 report, which reported job gains of 192,000, was revised upward by 23,000 to 215,000 jobs.
...
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “The job market remains sturdy in the face of significant fiscal headwinds. Businesses are adding to payrolls more strongly at the start of 2013 with gains across all industries and business sizes. Tax increases and government spending cuts don’t appear to be affecting the job market.”

This was above the consensus forecast for 173,000 private sector jobs added in the ADP report. Note:  The BLS reports on Friday, and the consensus is for an increase of 171,000 payroll jobs in February, on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis.

Note: ADP hasn't been very useful in predicting the BLS report.