Looking closer at private-sector hiring, ADP data adds more context on where growth is occurring. Private employers added 62,000 jobs in March, beating forecasts of 40,000. But the headline masks important differences across company size and sector.
All the job growth came from small businesses, which added 85,000 positions. In contrast, medium-sized companies cut 20,000 jobs, and large employers trimmed 4,000.
What’s the bottom line?
According to ADP Chief Economist Dr. Nela Richardson, hiring overall is steady, but it’s concentrated in a few areas. Much of the growth is coming from education and health services, industries that tend to be more stable and less sensitive to economic shifts.
At the same time, the payoff for switching jobs is shrinking. Workers who change jobs are still seeing faster wage growth (6.6%) than those who stay put (4.5%), but the gap has narrowed compared to recent years. In other words, the job market is becoming less competitive overall.
