ADP: Businesses add booming 263,000 jobs in March

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Paul Davidson , USA TODAY




Businesses added 263,000 jobs in March, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday, possibly heralding a third straight month of strong hiring in the government’s closely watched employment report later this week.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected ADP to report 185,000 new private-sector jobs. They expect the Labor Department on Friday to tally gains of 175,000 in the public and private sectors.

ADP tries to foreshadow Labor’s report but often varies from it noticeably. In February, ADP recorded 298,000 payroll gains among businesses while Labor reported 227,000, and 235,000 total additions, including government hiring.

Some economists say unusually warm winter weather pulled forward hiring in sectors such as construction to early this year. That could spell relatively low job gains in the spring, especially since snowstorms may have posed a further hindrance to hiring in March.

ADP typically counts employees is working as long as they’re on the payroll, but Labor only includes those working when it conducts its survey, notes Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist of High Frequency Economics. As a result, Labor’s reported payroll gains, unlike ADP’s, could be depressed by weather effects.

Generally, a 200,000-plus monthly job gains so far this year have exceeded the estimates of economists who figured the low, 4.7% unemployment rate would slow hiring by providing employers with fewer available workers.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Those are legitimate numbers too, its refreshing to see "real" numbers for the first time in a long time