ADP's March National Employment Report is out.
The payroll-processing firm estimates 191,000 workers were hired to private-sector jobs in March, below Wall Street's 195,000 consensus forecast.
However, February's number was revised up to 178,000 from 139,000.
Below is a summary of the data from the release:
Goods-producing employment rose by 28,000 jobs in March, slightly faster than an upwardly revised pace of 25,000 in February. Most of the gains came from the construction industry which added 20,000 jobs over the month; compared to an average of 16,000 during the prior three months. Manufacturers added 5,000 jobs in March, the same as February.
Service-providing employment rose by 164,000 jobs in March, up from the upwardly revised 153,000 in February. The ADP National Employment Report indicates that professional/business services contributed the most to growth in service-providing industries, adding 53,000 jobs, slightly more than the 49,000 in February. Expansion in trade/transportation/utilities grew by 36,000, about equal to the 37,000 jobs added in February. The 5,000 new jobs in financial activities mark the strongest pace of growth in the industry since November 2013.
"The 191,000 U.S. private sector jobs added in March is slightly above the twelve-month average,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP. “Hopefully, this could be a sign there is more growth to come."
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, "The job market is coming out from its deep winter slumber. Job gains are consistent with the pace prior to the brutal winter. The gains are broad based across industries and business size classes. Even better numbers are likely in coming months as the weather warms."
Payroll growth for businesses with 49 or fewer employees slowed slightly in March, adding 72,000 jobs, down from 76,000 in February and an average of 83,000 during the past 12 months. In contrast, job growth accelerated over the month for both medium and large firms and was at its strongest since last November. Employment among medium-sized companies with 50-499 employees rose by 52,000 and employment at large companies – those with 500 or more employees – increased by 67,000.