US Job Market Adds Less Jobs in March: ADP Report

By Efthymis Oraiopoulos

The number of jobs added in March in the United States as well as the increase in pay have started to decrease, according to a business report from ADP.

Private sector employment increased by 145,000 jobs in March, and annual pay was up 6.9 percent year over year, according to the March ADP National Employment Report.

In comparison, 261,000 jobs were added in February, and a 7.2 percent increase in annual pay was observed in the February ADP National Employment Report.

Business services provider ADP issued a press release about its findings based on data from its client companies.

Slowing job growth will be welcomed by Federal Reserve officials as they consider whether to pause the central bank’s fastest interest rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s.

“While we don’t take too much signal from the ADP report, we think that the softness in the ADP data does provide at least some support for our view that the trend for job growth is moderating,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

The report used data from 25 million U.S. employees in its jobs findings and data from 10 million employees over a 12-month period for ADP’s pay measure.

“Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down.”

The report found that consumer demand decreased, in line with the high inflation.

It was not, however, clear from the press release how many of the new jobs were second jobs. The Epoch Times has reached out to ADP for a comment.

More specifically, from the 145,000 new jobs in March, 47,000 were added in natural resources or mining, and 53,000 were added in construction. Manufacturing lost 30,000 jobs.

Financial activities lost 51,000 jobs and professional or business services lost 46,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 98,000 jobs, and trade, transportation, or utilities added 56,000 jobs.

The ADP National Employment Report uses payroll data of ADP’s client companies. It is produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Reuters contributed to this report.