ADP Employment Report: -697,000 jobs in February

It's "employment week" in the market, with the big February jobs report from the government hitting the tape on Friday. But we got a sneak preview from ADP Employer Services, as we always do on the first Wednesday of each month. No use sugarcoating it: The report was grim. ADP says the economy (PDF link) shed 697,000 jobs in February, up from an upwardly revised 614,000 a month earlier (previously reported as 522,000). The number was also above forecasts for a reading of 630,000.

A separate report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said companies announced 186,350 job cuts in February. That was down from a cycle high of 241,749 in January, but up a hefty 158% from the year-ago level of 72,091. There were very large increases in cuts from the automotive (+52,518 on the month) and financial (+12,092) industries.