March private-sector jobs increased by 455,000: ADP

The private sector gained 455,000 jobs between February and March, according to a March ADP National Employment report.

Most of the jobs, about 377,000, were in service-providing fields like transportation, business services, financial activities, education and hospitality. Goods-producing jobs accounted for roughly 79,000 jobs in areas like manufacturing and construction, according to ADP.

“Job growth was broad-based across sectors in March, contributing to the nearly 1.5 million jobs added for the first quarter in 2022,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“Businesses are hiring, specifically among the service providers which had the most ground to make up due to early pandemic losses. However, a tight labor supply remains an obstacle for continued growth in consumer-facing industries,” Richardson added. 

ADP’s data came from actual, anonymous payroll data of companies that ADP serves. 

The additional jobs and declining unemployment rates may have contributed to increases in consumer confidence in March despite inflation concerns. This month, consumer confidence rose to 107.2, up from 105.7 in February.

At the same time, inflation concerns have mounted as it hits some of its highest levels in decades, with consumers believing it could get as high as 7.9 percent.

But still, as employers have struggled to work around labor shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic, job openings, hires and quit rates all neared record highs set in December, according to the February Job Openings and Labor Turnover report.