US nonfarm private employment surged in March with the US adding 517,000 jobs compared to the previous month, according to the ADP National Employment Report released today. It follows gains of 176,00 in February and 196,000 in January.
“We saw marked improvement in March’s labor market data, reporting the strongest gain since September 2020,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
“Job growth in the service sector significantly outpaced its recent monthly average, led with a notable increase by the leisure and hospitality industry,” Richardson said. “This sector has the most opportunity to improve as the economy continues to gradually reopen and the vaccine is made more widely available.”
Richardson added the groundwork is being laid for more increases in the pace of monthly hiring.
Businesses of all sizes added jobs in March.
Jobs were also added across most sectors:
- Goods-producing, up 80,000
- Natural resources/mining, down 1,000
- Construction, up 32,000
- Manufacturing, up 49,000
- Service-providing: up 437,000
- Trade/transportation/utilities, up 92,000
- Information, down 7,000
- Financial activities, up 9,000
- Professional/business services, up 83,000
- Professional/technical services, up 27,000
- Management of companies/enterprises, up 4,000
- Administrative/support services, up 53,000
- Education/health services, up 68,000
- Healthcare/social assistance, up 66,000
- Education, up 2,000
- Leisure/hospitality, up 169,000
- Other services, up 22,000
This report is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.