ADP: U.S. businesses add 191,000 new jobs in March

ROSELAND, N.J., April 2 (UPI) -- U.S. businesses added 191,000 jobs from February to March, a return to the modest pace of hiring seen before the hard winter weather.

Private sector employment increased for the month of March according to payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics.

“The job market is coming out from its deep winter slumber. Job gains are consistent with the pace prior to the brutal winter,” the report said.

The number is close to a survey carried out by Bloomberg, where economists surveyed said they expected the economy to add 195,000 new jobs in March. They expect the Labor Department's survey to be closer to 200,000, which includes job gains by businesses and federal, state and local governments.

According to the seasonally adjusted numbers, small business led the way with 72,000 new jobs followed by large and medium businesses with 67,000 and 52,000 new jobs respectively. A major chunk of these jobs, 164,000, are in the service industry.

"The job market is coming out from its deep winter slumber," Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi says in a statement. "Job gains are consistent with the pace prior to the brutal winter. The gains are broad based across industries and business size classes. Even better numbers are likely in coming months as the weather warms."

The ADP report, although a report by a private company, is highly anticipated and is considered a preview to the Labor Department's job growth and unemployment rate report out Friday.

[ADP] [NPR]