The private sector added 62,000 jobs in March — again mostly thanks to healthcare
The report describes an economy heavily reliant on healthcare job gains from an aging population
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The private sector added 62,000 jobs in March, according to a new ADP report, a better-than-anticipated total anchored by gains in healthcare and construction.
“Overall hiring is steady, but job growth continues to favor certain industries,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, the chief economist of ADP
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The report found:
- 58,000 jobs added in education and health services
- 16,000 jobs added in information
- 11,000 jobs added in natural resources and mining
- 30,000 jobs added in construction
- 11,000 jobs shed in manufacturing
- 58,000 jobs shed in trade, transportation, and utilities,
Also notable: business and professional services added 1,000 jobs in March, a turnaround from February’s numbers, when the industry shed a whopping 30,000 jobs.
Still, the ADP report describes an economy heavily reliant on healthcare job gains from an aging population, which isn’t the greatest sign of economic health.
“Workers have found no shortage of healthcare jobs for some time now, but if your skills and experience aren’t in this sector, you’re likely facing a tough time should you be job searching,” said Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet. “When job gains are concentrated in just a few areas, the benefits of expansion from month to month are felt unevenly”.
Renter said that “ideally, we’d like to see growth across industries, where workers can find jobs and employers can find qualified staff, across the economy.”
ADP found that year-over-year pay for job-stayers rose 4.5% in March, hitting $61,900. It rose 6.6% for job-changers. Those percentages are down significantly from highs in 2022, when job-stayers saw up to 7.8% increases in pay and job-changers saw up to 16% boosts. It’s another sign that we’re still in a low moment for worker leverage.