U.S. Private Sector Job Growth Slightly Exceeds Estimates In March

(RTTNews) - Partly reflecting strong job growth in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. private sector job growth in the month of March.

ADP said private sector employment increased by 200,000 jobs in March after jumping by a downwardly revised 205,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to climb by about 195,000 jobs compared to the addition of 214,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The slightly bigger than expected increase in jobs was partly due to continued strength in service-providing employment, which surged up by 191,000 jobs in March.

Employment in the trade, transportation and utilities sector increased by 42,000 jobs, reflecting the strongest job growth in the sector since last June.

"Steady employment growth and accelerating wage growth in the workforce appear to be benefitting the Trade segment in particular," said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and head of the ADP Research Institute.

The report also said goods-producing employment edged up by 9,000 jobs in March, partly reflecting an increase of 17,000 construction jobs.

ADP noted large businesses added 39,000 jobs during the month, while employment at small and medium businesses climbed by 86,000 jobs and 75,000 jobs, respectively.

Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said, "Overall, although first-quarter GDP growth may not have been quite as strong as we initially believed, the resilience of the labor market suggests that the economy is not in any serious trouble."

Friday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both private and public sector jobs.

The report is expected to show an increase of about 210,000 jobs in March after employment jumped by 242,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.9 percent.