Private employers in the U.S. added jobs during March at the same strong pace that had been recorded in the previous month, reinforcing the outlook for continued improvement for the recovering labor market, according to Reuters. On Wednesday, ADP Employer Services reported that U.S. private employers added 201,000 jobs during March, which was in-line with economists’ forecast for a gain of 203,000 jobs in the month. The gain roughly repeats the 208,000 job increase in February, which was revised down from the gain of 217,000 jobs that was initially reported.
David Katz of Matrix Asset Advisors said the report “shows that the labor market recovery continues at a reasonable pace,” and added that the labor market could aid the continuation of the overall economic recovery by acting as “a buffer against weak areas like real estate.” The report comes ahead of the official labor report from the government later this week, which is expected to show that the economy added 190,000 jobs in March on a 200,000-bjo increase in private payrolls. A separate report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that planned layoffs fell by 18% in March from the previous month, reaching 41,528 after a spike to 50,702 in February. The 130,749 in planned layoffs so far in 2011 is the lowest rate of downsizing since 1995.