ADP National Employment Report Shows U.S. Employment Increased by 8,000 Private Sector Jobs in March
ROSELAND, New Jersey (April 02, 2008) – According to today’s ADP National Employment Report (SM), private sector employment increased by 8,000 in March. The ADP National Employment Report, created by ADP® Employer Services, a division of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), in partnership with Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, is based on actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month.
Nonfarm Private Employment Highlights – March Report:
— Total employment: +8,000
— Small businesses* +55,000
— Medium businesses** +5,000
— Large businesses*** -52,000
— Goods-producing sector: -77,000
— Service-providing sector: +85,000
Addendum:
— Manufacturing industry: -58,000
* Small businesses represent payrolls with 1-49 employees
** Medium businesses represent payrolls with 50-499 employees
*** Large businesses represent payrolls with more than 499 employees
According to Joel Prakken, Chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, “Nonfarm private employment increased 8,000 from February to March 2008 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report. The estimated change in employment from January to February was revised up 5,000 to negative 18,000. Though positive, the slight increase of 8,000 in March signals a continuing sharp deceleration of employment growth from previous levels. Unlike the weakness of employment reported in February, which was widespread across businesses of all sizes and apparent in all major sectors of the economy, the weakness of employment in March was concentrated among larger businesses in the goods-producing sector.”
Prakken added, “Employment in the service-providing sector of the economy grew 85,000, while employment in the goods-producing sector declined 77,000, the sixteenth consecutive monthly decline. Manufacturing employment fell 58,000 in March and marked the nineteenth consecutive monthly decline.”
“Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, saw employment decline 52,000. Conversely, employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, advanced 55,000 during the month, up from a revised 16,000 in February. Employment increased just 5,000 among medium-size businesses with between 50 and 499 workers,” said Prakken.
Prakken went on to say, “Two sectors of the economy hit hardest by recent problems in mortgage markets have been residential construction and financial activities related to home sales and mortgage lending. In March, construction employment fell 22,000. This is the sixteenth consecutive monthly decline, bringing the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in August 2006 to 259,000. Employment in financial activities for the month was flat.”
The matched sample used to develop the ADP National Employment Report was derived from ADP data which, during the last six months of 2007, averaged approximately 392,000 payrolls representing nearly 24 million U.S. employees. This approximately represents the size of the matched sample used this month.
Small Business Highlights – March Report:
Due to the important contribution small businesses make to economic growth, employment data that is specific to businesses with fewer than 50 employees will be reported in the ADP Small Business Report (SM) each month. The ADP Small Business Report is a subset of the ADP National Employment Report.
— Total small business employment: +55,000
— Goods-producing sector: -8,000 small business jobs
— Service-providing sector: +63,000 small business jobs
Private employment among small businesses increased by 55,000 in March, according to the ADP Small Business Report released today. Additional information about small business employment, including charts on monthly job growth and employment levels, along with historical data, is available at http://www.smallbusinessreport.adp.com.
“Employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, advanced 55,000 during March, up from a revised 16,000 increase in February. This apparent reacceleration of employment among small-size businesses contrasts with employment declines among larger firms, and is consistent with the stronger growth and resiliency these businesses have demonstrated over the past several years,” said Joel Prakken.
To obtain additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including additional charts, supporting data and the schedule of future release dates, or to subscribe to the monthly e-mail alerts and RSS feeds, please visit www.ADPemploymentreport.com. The April 2008 ADP National Employment Report will be released on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. ET.
Source: ADP
