ADP private payroll growth slumps to 145,000 in March

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- The U.S. private sector significantly slowed its hiring in March as last year's string of interest rate hikes took an ever-greater toll on activity, payrolls processor ADP said on Wednesday.

ADP said private-sector employment rose by around 145,000 through the middle of last month, a sharp slowdown from 261,000 in February and well below expectations for a gain of 200,000.

The numbers are the latest to indicate that a labor market that stayed red hot all through last year is now cooling fast. They follow hard on the heels of a Labor Department report showing that job vacancies fell to their lowest level in 21 months in February, dipping below 10 million for the first time since May 2021.

"Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing," AADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement. "Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down."

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