Private-sector payrolls expanded at a solid pace in February, but layoff announcements increased for the second month in a row, according to two separate reports released Wednesday.

Private-sector jobs in the U.S. rose by 217,000 last month, according to a national employment report published by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers.

Economists had expected ADP to report a job gain of 170,000 in February. The January data were revised to show a rise of 189,000 versus the 187,000 increase first reported.

For February, the ADP report said, "The recent pattern of rising employment gains since the middle of last year was reinforced by today's report, as the average gain from December through February (217,000) is well above the average gain over the prior six months (63,000)."

The ADP survey tallies only private-sector jobs, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payroll data, to be released Friday, include government workers.