U.S. private sector adds 209,000 jobs in March: ADP

Employment growth trend continuing

NEW YORK (Reuters) — United States private employers added 209,000 jobs in March, suggesting the labour market is strengthening, a report by ADP showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 200,000 jobs. The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers.

Job gains for January and February were also revised up to 182,000 and 230,000, respectively.

The ADP figures come ahead of the government's more comprehensive labour market report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment.

"My conclusion is the employment growth trend that we've seen over the last year remains in place and we probably will see a decent employment number on Friday when the Department of Labor reports non-farm payrolls," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson in Lake Oswego, Ore.

The non-farm payrolls report is expected to show a gain of 203,000 jobs last month, including a rise in private payrolls of 218,000.

The report from the United States Labor Department has shown the economy added more than 200,000 jobs in each of the last three months, helping to keep the economic recovery on track.

Economists often refer to the ADP report to fine-tune their expectations for the payrolls numbers, though it is not always accurate in predicting the outcome.

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