Nonfarm private employment increased by a seasonally adjusted 191,000 jobs for March, according to ADP's (ADP -0.09%) National Employment Report (link opens in PDF) released today.
Human capital management company ADP partners with Moody's Analytics to produce this monthly report based on ADP payroll data representing 416,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 24 million workers in the U.S. The survey covers only private businesses.
After February's 139,000 increase was revised up to a significantly more solid 178,000, analysts had expected March's numbers to clock in at an adjusted 193,000 jobs. Although that means March didn't quite meet expectations, February's revised report points to longer-term jobs growth.
Small businesses (1-49 workers) provided the main push in the most recent report, adding 72,000 employees to their ranks. Medium (50-499) companies increased their workforce by 52,000, while large (500+) corporations added on 67,000.
The services sector was the heavyweight in industry additions, increasing employment by 164,000 compared to just 28,000 for goods-producing companies. Manufacturing employment edged up 5,000.
According to Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi, employment numbers should warm up even more as winter wanes:
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.
