U.S. private payrolls up 217,000 in February: ADP (by Ruth Mantell)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Private-sector employment rose 217,000 in February, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc.'s employment report released Wednesday. Employment in the service-producing sector rose 202,000, while employment in the goods-producing sector gained 15,000. For January, ADP reported that private payrolls gained 189,000, compared with a prior estimate of 187,000. On Friday, the government will report on February's nonfarm payrolls, which also include government workers, and economists polled by MarketWatch are looking for a gain of 200,000, and for an unemployment rate of 9.1%. For January, the government reported that nonfarm payrolls gained 36,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 9%.