By Charles Riley
 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The outlook for the U.S. job market remains cloudy, as private sector payrolls expanded in February at the same time that layoffs grew as well, according to two reports released Wednesday.

Private sector employers added 217,000 jobs in February, according to payroll processor ADP. That's up from an upwardly revised increase of 189,000 jobs in January.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a gain of 165,000 jobs in the month.

But a separate report from outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that employers announced plans to cut 50,702 jobs in February, up 32% increase over January. That's also 20% higher than the 42,090 planned layoffs announced in February 2010.

"It is too soon to say whether the increases in January and now February represent a trend," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

But there are a variety of factors that might continue the trend, with the sharp spike in oil prices among them.

"At the very least, rising energy costs could force employers to postpone hiring plans," Challenger said. "At worst, increased costs could kill the fragile recovery and spur another round of layoffs."

The surge in gas prices that followed rising oil might spillover to retail employers as well.

"If gasoline tops$4.00 per gallon in the coming weeks, consumers may be forced to make significant changes to their spending habits. At this stage of the recovery, that could be an extremely damaging setback," said Challenger.

Also on the horizon: More cuts in public sector jobs, which are already starting to materialize.

Government and non-profit employers announced 16,380 job cuts in February, up from 6,450 in January and 196% higher than a year ago.

"More job cuts at the federal level are expected in the months ahead as pressure mounts to cut costs and rein in the soaring national deficit," Challenger said.

The decline in government jobs is also evident in the report's geographical data, as the District of Columbia had 5,946 layoffs in February, putting it fourth among the 50 states and the district.

The two reports came ahead of Friday's monthly payrolls report from the Labor Department, one of the most highly anticipated on Wall Street.

The government report is expected to show that employers added 192,000 jobs in February, according to CNNMoney's survey of economists, while the unemployment rate is forecast to tick up to 9.1% from 9% in January.

While the ADP and Challenger reports are often seen as leading indicators for the government data, the correlation has been inconsistent recently.

ADP reported an increase of 187,000 private sector jobs in January. But the government reported a much smaller gain of 36,000 jobs in the month.

More From CNN Money