The non-farm private sector gained 517,000 jobs in March, according to the ADP National Employment Report. This follows a revised February increase of 176,000 jobs.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees gained 174,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses with 50-499 employees gained 188,000, while large businesses increased by 155,000 jobs.
“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.”
Service-providing employment led the increase with 437,000 jobs gained, driven by the leisure & hospitality and trade, transportation & utilities sectors, which rose by 169,000 and 92,000 jobs respectively.
Goods-producing employment rose by 80,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector gained 49,000 jobs and construction rose by 32,000 jobs. Natural resources/mining saw a loss of 1,000 jobs.
Read the ADP report.
