Small businesses added 102,000 jobs in March, according to payroll giant ADP, out of a total of 201,000 jobs gained in the private sector.
The ADP National Employment Report, compiled by Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisers, found that midsized businesses with between 50 and 499 employees added 82,000 jobs in March, while large businesses with 500 or more employees added 17,000 jobs. The information is based on ADP’s own payroll clients.
Of those 201,000 job gains across the private sector, 37,000 jobs were added in the goods-producing sector, while 164,000 jobs were added in the service sector. Of the 102,000 jobs added just in small businesses of less than 50 employees, 13,000 jobs were in the goods-producing sector while 89,000 were added in the service sector.
“The average monthly increase in employment over the last four months—December through March —has been 211,000, consistent with a gradual if uneven decline in the unemployment rate,” said Macroeconomic Advisers chairman Joel Prakken in a statement. “This is almost three times the average monthly gain of 74,000 over the preceding four months of August through November. Small-business employment continued to drive growth, rising 102,000 in March after a solid gain of 96,000 in February.”
