Private sector employment increased by 183,000 jobs in February, helped by the hiring in large companies, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.

The report, derived from ADP actual payroll data in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The report said private large companies increased employment by 133,000 in February, 128,000 of that from companies with 1,000 and more employees. Medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, hired 26,000 while small businesses increased employment by 24,000.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said the coronavirus so far has not had an effect on employment in the United States.

“[The coronavirus] will need to break through the job market firewall if it is to do significant damage to the economy,” Zandi said in a statement. “The firewall has some cracks, but judging by the February employment gain it should be strong enough to weather most scenarios.”

The service-providing sector boosted its employment by 172,000, led by the 46,000 hires in education/health services, 44,000 in leisure/hospitality, 38,000 in professional/business services and 31,000 in trade/transportation/utilities.

There were some sectors that showed employment losses, including 4,000 jobs in manufacturing, 3,000 in natural resources/mining and another 2,000 in information.

The report comes after ADP’s January numbers were revised showing a growth of 209,000, down from the 291,000 that was initially reported. The revision brought the report nearly even with the Bureau of Labor Statistics private payroll estimate of 206,000 jobs created that month.

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