The employment
report released by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed
that U.S. private employers added 184,000 jobs in March. This represented the
highest number since July 2023 (+307,000).
Economists had foreseen
an addition of 148,000 new jobs for March.
Meanwhile, the February
figure saw an upward
revision to 155,000 from the originally reported 140,000.
According to
the report, the March job gain was led by leisure and hospitality (+63,000), construction
(+33,000), and trade, transportation and utilities (+29,000). At the same time,
professional and business services (-8,000) was
the only sector that shed jobs last month.
The report also
revealed that pay growth for job changers accelerated dramatically last month, rising from
7.6 per cent y-o-y in February to 10.0 per cent y-o-y. Meanwhile, pay growth
for job stayers remained unchanged at 5.1 per cent y-o-y.
Commenting on
the latest report, Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, noted March was
surprising not just for the pay gains, but the sectors that recorded them. “The
three biggest increases for job-changers were in construction, financial
services, and manufacturing," she added. "Inflation has been cooling,
but our data shows pay is heating up in both goods and services."