Construction Boosts Jobs Numbers in February, Resembling July 2025 Levels

Jobs numbers were looking up in February compared to previous months, with a U.S. hiring spree — led in part by the construction industry — creating new jobs at a rate similar to what was seen in July 2025.

Private sector employers using human resources platform ADP added 63,000 jobs to the U.S. economy last month, signaling an uptick from suppressed additions to the workforce at the end of 2025 and early 2026, according to data from the company.

The construction industry saw 19,000 new hires in February and was second only to education and health services, which saw the highest month-over-month increase at 58,000 jobs added, per ADP. Professional and business services suffered the most with a combined 30,000 job losses in February.

The data also shows people were staying put in their jobs for higher pay — raises averaged 4.5 percent — rather than jumping ship for an income boost, which only yielded an average 6.3 percent raise in February, a wages report from ADP showed.

“We’ve seen an increase in hiring and pay gains remain solid, especially for job-stayers. But with hiring concentrated in only a few sectors, our data shows no widespread pay benefit from changing jobs,” Nela Richardson, chief economist for ADP, said in a statement. “In fact, the pay premium for switching employers hit a record low in February.”

But total employment on the ADP platform has plateaued in the last year following the steady incline tracked since 2010, despite a major hiccup during the pandemic. Job numbers hit 134.1 million in January 2025, 134.5 million in July 2025 and 134.6 million in February, according to the data.

Small businesses added the most jobs in February, with companies with up to 19 employees hiring 58,000 people compared to midsize companies with 250 to 499 employees accounting for 4,000 job losses, and large firms of 500 or more adding 10,000 jobs to the economy.

In January, ADP reported that only 22,000 people were hired — about half of the 45,000 nationwide hires analysts were predicting — with professional and business services eliminating 57,000 positions in total, Commercial Observer reported at the time.

Much like February, the January jobs numbers showed that wages were stable for those remaining in their current positions.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.