Prior to this morning’s release of the monthly ADP National Employment Report, economists polled by Reuters were predicting the addition of 194,000 jobs to private payrolls in March. The actual tally, 200,000 jobs, just exceeded their expectations.
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“The job market continues on its amazing streak,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. “The March job gain of 200,000 is consistent with average monthly job growth of the past more than four years. The only industry reducing payrolls is energy as has been the case for over a year. All indications are that the job machine will remain in high gear.”
Small businesses lead job gains last month; companies with fewer than 50 employees added 86,000 jobs to their payrolls. Medium-sized businesses with between 50 and 499 employees added 75,000 jobs, while large businesses with over 500 employees added 39,000 jobs.
On, the industry side, trade, transportation, and utilities led gains with 42,000 jobs added, nearly double February’s tally.
“The Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector had its best month of employment gains since last June,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and head of the ADP Research Institute. “Steady employment growth and accelerating wage growth in the workforce appear to be benefitting the Trade segment in particular.”
Service-providing employment as a whole added 191,000 jobs last month, down from February’s tally of 204,000 jobs. Professional and business services added 28,000 jobs (down from February’s 51,000 jobs), and financial activities added 14,000 jobs.
Goods-producing employment added 9,000 jobs in March, up from 2,000 the previous month. Construction added 17,000 jobs (versus 24,000 jobs in February) and manufacturing added 3,000 jobs after shedding 9,000 jobs in February.
Economists predict that Friday’s report from the Labor Department will show the addition of 205,000 jobs, including public and private, non-farm payrolls. Unemployment is expected to remain flat at 4.9 percent.
The PayScale Index, which measures the change in wages for employed U.S. workers, forecasts a 1.4 percent year-over-year growth for Q1 2016.
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