U.S. job growth falls short of the 200K mark in March, ADP says

America gained jobs in March, but fell short of the 200,000 mark for the first time in more than a year, according to Roseland-based payroll and human resources company ADP.Private sector employment grew by 189,000 jobs from February to March, the company said in its monthly ADP National Employment Report. That was less than the 212,000 jobs gained in February, according to previous reports.

“March job gains came in under 200,000 for the first time since January of last year,” Carlos Rodriguez, CEO and president of ADP, said in a prepared statement. “The decline was centered in the largest companies, those with 1,000 or more employees.”

Small businesses, with fewer than 50 workers, added 108,000 of the private-sector jobs in March, ADP said, with medium-sized businesses of 50 to 499 employees adding 62,000. But, as Rodriguez noted, large businesses, with 500 or more workers, added only 19,000 jobs for the month.

“Job growth took a step back in March,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said in a statement. “The fallout from the collapse in oil prices and surge in value of the dollar is hitting the job market. Despite the slowdown, underlying job growth remains strong enough to reduce labor market slack.”

The services sector led the way, with 184,000 of the job gains, compared with only 5,000 in the goods-producing sector. The good-producing sector had gained 22,000 jobs in February.

Professional and business services proved to be the top industry for the month, with 40,000 jobs added; trade/transportation/utilities was next, with 25,000 job gains, while construction added 17,000 and financial activities gained 16,000. Manufacturing, on the other hand, lost 1,000 jobs nationwide in March.

ALSO ON NJBIZ:

General Counsel of the Year finalists revealed (slideshow)

Bridge Development turns eyes to Perth Amboy; remediation partnerships allow for major industrial projects

Coalition blasts out-of-network health care cost study: ‘Caps protect insurers, not patients’