US ADP employment grew 517k in March, below expectation of 550k. By company size, small businesses added 174k jobs, medium businesses added 188k, large businesses added 155k. By sector, goods-producing jobs grew 80k, service-providing grew 437k.
“We saw marked improvement in March’s labor market data, reporting the strongest gain since September 2020,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “Job growth in the service sector significantly outpaced its recent monthly average, led with notable increase by the leisure and hospitality industry. This sector has the most opportunity to improve as the economy continues to gradually reopen and the vaccine is made more widely available. We are continuing to keep a close watch on the hardest hit sectors but the groundwork is being laid for a further boost in the monthly pace of hiring in the months ahead.”
