US private employers added 62,000 roles in March in a steady gain from the month prior, according to the payroll processor ADP.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an increase of 40,000 jobs after February posted the best monthly gain since July, with a revised boost of 66,000 positions.
March’s better-than-expected payroll growth was driven by small businesses as well as education and health services providers, ADP said, while sectors like manufacturing shed positions. Hiring in trade, transportation, and utilities also continued to slide.
“Overall hiring is steady, but job growth continues to favor certain industries, including health care,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement.
Recent government data has so far painted a bleak picture of this year’s labor market: February’s hiring rate was the lowest since April 2020, while that month also shed 92,000 jobs and saw the unemployment rate tick up to 4.4%.
The Chicago Fed anticipates the jobless rate again rose a hair in March to hit 4.5%, though official data from the Labor Department won’t be out until Friday morning.
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com.
Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance