ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 184,000 Jobs in March; Annual Pay was Up 5.1%

Private sector employment increased by 184,000 jobs in March and annual pay was up 5.1 percent year-over-year, according to the March ADP National Employment Repor produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on actual, anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees.

The jobs report and pay insights use ADP’s fine-grained anonymized and aggregated payroll data to provide a representative picture of the private-sector labor market. The report details the current month’s total private employment change, and weekly job data from the previous month. Because the underlying ADP payroll databases are continuously updated, the report provides a high-frequency, near real-time measure of U.S. employment. This measure reflects the number of employees on ADP client payrolls (Payroll Employment) to provide a richer understanding of the labor market. ADP’s pay measure uniquely captures the earnings of a cohort of almost 10 million employees over a 12-month period.

“March was surprising not just for the pay gains, but the sectors that recorded them. The three biggest increases for job-changers were in construction, financial services, and manufacturing,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “Inflation has been cooling, but our data shows pay is heating up in both goods and services.”

March 2024 Report Highlights*

View the ADP National Employment Report and interactive charts at www.adpemploymentreport.com.

JOBS REPORT

Private employers added 184,000 jobs in March
Last month saw the biggest jump in hiring since July, led by leisure and hospitality. Job gains were strong across industries with the exception of professional services, where hiring fell.

Change in U.S. Private Employment:     184,000

Change by Industry Sector

– Goods-producing:     42,000

• Natural resources/mining     8,000
• Construction     33,000
• Manufacturing     1,000

– Service-providing:     142,000

• Trade/transportation/utilities     29,000
• Information     8,000
• Financial activities     17,000
• Professional/business services     -8,000
• Education/health services     17,000
• Leisure/hospitality     63,000
• Other services     16,000

Change by U.S. Regions

– Northeast:     20,000

• New England     -1,000
• Middle Atlantic     21,000

– Midwest:     28,000

• East North Central     12,000
• West North Central     16,000

– South:     91,000

• South Atlantic     49,000
• East South Central     26,000
• West South Central     16,000

– West:     53,000

• Mountain     21,000
• Pacific     32,000

Change by Establishment Size

– Small establishments:     16,000

• 1-19 employees     27,000
• 20-49 employees     -11,000

– Medium establishments:     93,000

• 50-249 employees     63,000
• 250-499 employees     30,000

– Large establishments:     87,000

• 500+ employees     87,000

PAY INSIGHTS

Pay gains for job-changers jumped in March
For job-stayers, year-over-year pay gains were flat at 5.1 percent after months of steady deceleration. At the same time, gains for job-changers rose dramatically to 10 percent, the second straight increase.

Median Change in Annual Pay (ADP matched person sample)

– Job-Stayers     5.1%

– Job-Changers     10.0%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry Sector

– Goods-producing:

• Natural resources/mining     4.7%
• Construction     5.7%
• Manufacturing     4.6%

– Service-providing:

• Trade/transportation/utilities     4.7%
• Information     4.8%
• Financial activities     5.3%
• Professional/business services     5.0%
• Education/health services     5.7%
• Leisure/hospitality     5.8%
• Other services     5.6%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Firm Size

– Small firms:                                                                

• 1-19 employees     4.7%
• 20-49 employees     5.2%

– Medium firms:                                                             

• 50-249 employees     5.3%
• 250-499 employees     5.1%

– Large firms:                                                                

• 500+ employees     4.9%

To see Pay Insights by U.S. State, Gender, and Age for Job-Stayers, visit here:

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.