Some economists expect the government to report Friday that hiring slowed in March from a surprisingly strong pace early in the year amid harsher weather and uncertainty about tax and regulatory policies.
USA Today reports that analysts on Wednesday stuck with those measured expectations despite payroll processor ADP’s announcement that businesses added a booming 263,000 jobs last month.
ADP tries to foreshadow the Labor Department’s report but often varies from it noticeably. In February, ADP recorded 298,000 payroll gains among businesses, while the Labor Department reported 227,000—and 235,000 total additions—including government hiring.
A big reason the two reports could vary more sharply in March is weather. Unseasonably high temperatures likely pulled forward hiring in sectors such as construction to early in the year, economists say. That could spell relatively subdued job gains in the spring, especially since snowstorms may have posed a further hindrance to job totals in March.
