US: Private sector employment rises by 517K in March vs. 550K expected

• ADP Employment Change rose to 517K in March from 176K in February.
• US Dollar Index extends its sideways grind above 93.00.

Employment in the US' private sector increased by 517,000 in March, the monthly data published by the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Research Institute revealed on Wednesday. This reading fell short of the market expectation of 550,000. On a positive note, February's reading got revised up to 176,000 from 117,000.

Commenting on the data, "we saw marked improvement in March’s labor market data, reporting the strongest gain since
September 2020," noted Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "Job growth in the service sector significantly outpaced its recent monthly average, led with notable increase by the leisure and hospitality industry."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index showed no immediate reaction to this report and was last seen losing 0.07% on the day at 93.23.