Economists predicted that today’s employment report from payroll processing company ADP would reflect 189,000 jobs. The actual number, just north of that, might be a sign that our long, cold winter is finally over.
(Photo Credit: photologue_np/Flickr)
“The job market is coming out from its deep winter slumber,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. “Even better numbers are likely in coming months as the weather warms.”
Payroll growth slowed slightly for businesses with fewer than 50 employees, but accelerated at medium-sized and large companies.
“We’re starting to see the recovery in the data that we’ve been hoping for,” Brett Ryan, an economist with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., told Bloomberg before the report. “This is going to provide policy makers and market participants alike a modicum of confidence that the data swoon over the last couple months is weather-related and not a sign of something more ominous.”
All eyes will be on Friday’s employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists are predicting the addition of 200,000 jobs for March.
Wages rose 0.5 percent for the first quarter of the year, according to The PayScale Index, which projects a 0.8 percent growth for the second quarter.
Tell Us What You Think
Do you think the economy is improving? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.
Leave a Reply