According to the March Jobs report released by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) on Wednesday, the private sector job growth has increased in March to its highest level since July 2023.
March Jobs Report
According to the ADP March Jobs Report, employers increased 184,000 workers during the month, an increase from the revised February gain of 155,000, matching the March estimate from Dow Jones.
The March Jobs report by ADP showed that the wages for workers staying in their jobs increased by 5.1% from a year earlier, matching February’s rate after a consistent easing trend throughout 2023. According to March jobs data, those changing jobs saw even higher gains of 10%, surpassing previous months.
Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, talking about the March jobs data, said that March has brought surprises not only in wage increases but also in the sectors experiencing them. She added that although inflation has been decreasing, the March jobs data shows that wages are increasing across goods and services.
According to the March Jobs Report, the hospitality sector saw 63000 job gains, with other sectors like construction (33,000), trade, transportation, and utilities (29,000), and education and health services (17,000) also showing increases.
According to the March Jobs data, professional and business services lost 8,000 jobs. Service-related industries had 142,000 of the total jobs, while the rest came from goods-producing sectors. ADP, which manages payroll data for over 25 million workers, does not include government jobs in its survey.
According to the March Jobs report, the majority of the job growth came from companies with over 50 employees, as small businesses added only 16,000 jobs to the total count. Looking at regions, the South experienced the largest gains, adding 91,000 workers.
Upcoming March Jobs Data
The ADP estimate will be followed by the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls survey, scheduled for release on Friday, though the numbers tend to vary. In February, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported job growth of 275,000. This was 120,000 more than ADP’s revised figure. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones hope the March count will reveal a growth of 200,000.
The March Jobs report has shown strong job growth, which, along with decreasing inflation, has given the Federal Reserve the power to take a patient stance on adjusting monetary policy. While central bank officials are expected to begin cutting interest rates later this year, they have recently mentioned that they are yet to observe sufficient evidence indicating a decrease in inflation to start rate reductions.
Inflation decreased in the last quarter of 2023. However, there were a few unexpected increases in inflation data in the first quarter of 2024. This has raised concerns among economists and traders that inflation might remain “sticky” above the Fed’s target level, making the path for rate cuts more complex.
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