Payrolls up by 241,000 in March, report says
Did U.S. hiring surge for a third consecutive month?
Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday businesses added 241,000 jobs in March, signaling the government may announce another month of strong gains in its closely watched employment survey this week.
Economists expected ADP to tally
210,000 private-sector job gains. The Labor Department on Friday is forecast to announce 185,000 additional jobs in the public and private sectors.
“The job market is rip-roaring,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s analytics, which helps ADP compile the report. “The tight labor market continues to tighten.”
Some economists say the booming
313,000 new jobs Labor recorded in February were inflated by mild weather that pulled forward hiring in construction and retail. As a result, they’re looking for an offsetting moderation of job growth for March.
Industries that are hiring
Professional and business services led the gains with 44,000 new jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities added 40,000; health care, 29,000; and leisure and hospitality, 26,000.
Construction added 31,000 jobs as rebuilding continues in hurricane-hit areas of Texas and Florida and home builders respond to a housing shortage. And manufacturers added 29,000 jobs amid a strong global economy and a resurgence in oil drilling. It’s good news that these two solid, middle-income sectors, which lost millions of jobs in the recession, are hiring at a brisk clip.
Small firms struggle to add workers
In March, small businesses added
47,000 jobs, midsize companies added
127,000 and large ones, 67,000. The low unemployment rate is making it tougher for employers to find job candidates, and that’s especially posing a challenge for small businesses that typically have lower wages and benefits than their larger competitors.
What it means
ADP tries to predict Labor’s privatesector payroll totals. While it generally traces similar trends, it often varies from it significantly. In February, ADP reported 52,000 fewer job gains than the Labor survey. As a result, the ADP March tally could indicate that Labor will announce another solid job total, but there’s no guarantee.