ADP Report Details Record Job Losses

ADP Employer Services said private sector employment decreased by 697,000 in February.

The February number is the largest since ADP began reporting data in 2001.

Small businesses were especially hard-hit with 262,000 workers leaving businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

It will be interesting to see how these numbers compare to the Labor Department non-farm payroll numbers, which include government workers and are scheduled to be released Friday.

In a separate report, from outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the firm said planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell 23 percent in February from January's seven-year peak, but remained well above long term average.

Employers announced plans to cut 186,350 jobs in February, led by the auto industry, down from 241,749 in January.

This, of course, may be a sign the worst is over. John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas,seems to agree, in a statement, he said:

The decline in job cuts last month offers some hope that January was the peak and we will now see layoffs begin to fall or at least stabilize.