ADP says payrolls at companies in U.S. rose 200,000 in March

WASHINGTON – Companies in the U.S. added 200,000 workers to their payrolls in March after a 205,000 increase a month earlier, figures from ADP Research Institute showed Wednesday.

The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 195,000 advance, with estimates ranging from 150,000 to 225,000 after a previously reported 214,000 increase in February.

A Labor Department report on Friday is projected to show employers, including government agencies, took on 205,000 workers this month, while the jobless rate held at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.

Employer breakdown

- Advertisement -

Companies employing more than 500 or more workers added 39,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, took on 75,000 and the smallest companies increased payrolls by 86,000, the report showed.

The ADP report is based on data from businesses with almost 24 million workers on their combined payrolls.

The job market has remained a bright spot for a U.S. economy battling headwinds from dollar appreciation last year, a weaker energy sector and limited overseas growth.

Employers, including government agencies, added 242,000 workers in February compared with an average 229,000 a month in 2015. Applications for jobless benefits have been below 300,000 for 55 straight weeks, the longest such stretch since 1973, and a level that economists say is consistent with a healthy labor market.

Federal Reserve policy makers meeting earlier this month in Washington cited “additional strengthening of the labor market” even as they held off on raising the benchmark interest rate from its range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent.

The central bankers also marked down forecasts for how high interest rates will rise this year, pointing to risks from weaker global growth and financial-market turmoil.

No posts to display