Professional and business services led the way with 57,000 new jobs, followed by financial activities with 38,000 and manufacturing with 21,000.
“Despite policy uncertainty and downbeat consumers, the bottom line is this: The March topline number was a good one for the economy and employers of all sizes, if not necessarily all sectors,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist.
The March figure sharply outpaced February’s upwardly revised 84,000, and beat Wall Street’s consensus forecast of 120,000.
In other words, despite the policy “uncertainty” and alleged “downbeat” consumer mood cited by critics of the Trump administration’s trade agenda, businesses kept hiring at a healthy clip.
Notably, the goods-producing sector added 24,000 jobs, including strong gains in manufacturing for the second month in a row. Construction hiring slowed somewhat, and job losses were reported in natural resources and in trade, transportation, and utilities—sectors with localized or seasonal vulnerabilities.
Pay growth continued to cool slightly but remained robust. Year-over-year earnings for job-stayers rose 4.6 percent, and 6.5 percent for job-changers. The narrowing gap between the two suggests fewer workers feel the need to switch jobs to get a raise—another sign of stability rather than distress.
Hiring was strongest in the Northeast and Midwest, which together added 170,000 jobs. The South posted modest gains, while the West saw payrolls decline by 41,000. Large businesses added 59,000 workers, while small and mid-sized businesses also expanded payrolls.
The data adds to mounting evidence that the U.S. labor market remains resilient even as the economy adapts to a tougher, more strategically focused trade environment. For all the dire warnings about tariffs “hurting business confidence” or “chilling investment,” this is not apparent in the hard data on the U.S. economy.
The ADP report arrives two days before the official government jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will include government payrolls and is expected to show the economy added 131,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.2 percent.
Breitbart News
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