by Calculated Risk on 4/04/2012 08:15:00 AM

ADP reports:

Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 209,000 from February to March on a seasonally adjusted basis. Estimated gains for previous months were revised higher; the gain from December to January was revised up by 9,000 to 182,000, and the gain from January to February was revised up by 14,000 to 230,000.

Employment in the private, service-providing sector increased 164,000 in March, after rising a revised 183,000 in February. Employment in the private, goods-producing sector rose 45,000 in March. Manufacturing employment added 23,000 jobs.

This was slightly above the consensus forecast of an increase of 208,000 private sector jobs in March. The BLS reports on Friday, and the consensus is for an increase of 201,000 payroll jobs in March, on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis.

Government payrolls have been shrinking, so the ADP report suggests close to 200,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added in March. Note: ADP hasn't been very useful in predicting the BLS report.