US private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in Marchincreasing signs that the job market is cooling off.
ADP’s national employment report on Wednesday followed government data on Tuesday showing that job offers fell below 10 million at the end of February for the first time in almost two years.
“While we didn’t take too many cues from the ADP report, we think the weakness in the ADP data provides at least some support for our view that the trend in job growth is moderating,” he said. Daniel Silver, JPMorgan economist in New York.
Private employment increased by 145,000 jobs last month, the ADP national employment report showed on Wednesday. Data for February was revised up to show growth of 261,000 jobs, instead of the previously announced 242,000. Economists consulted by Reuters had forecast an increase of 200,000 jobs.
The sector goods producer added 70,000 positions and employment in construction increased by 53,000. But the manufacturing payrolls fell 30,000. Were created 75,000 jobs in the service provision sector.
The leisure and hospitality industry hired 98,000 workers more, while the trade, transportation and public services added 56,000 jobs. But there were job losses in financial activities, as well as professional and business services.
He job market is slowing down To the extent that Rising borrowing costs curb demand in the economy. The Government reported on Tuesday that there were 9.9 million job offers at the end of February. However, for every unemployed person in February there were 1.7 vacancies, which demonstrates the rigidity of the labor market.
The ADP report, produced in conjunction with Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab, was released before the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the March jobs report on Friday. It has not been a reliable indicator in predicting private payrolls in the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report.
According to a Reuters poll of economists, private payrolls likely increased by 215,000 jobs in March. With expected increases in public employment, total nonfarm payrolls are expected to have grown by 240,000 last month, after increasing by 311,000 in February.
In a separate report Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that the US trade deficit widened more than expected in February as exports of goods declined, suggesting that trade could weigh on economic growth in the first quarter.
The trade deficit increased by 2.7%, to 70,500 million dollars. Data for January was revised to show a widening of the gap to $68.7 billion, instead of the previously reported $68.3 billion.
Source: Ambito
