Private Sector Adds 189,000 Jobs In March: ADP

Private-sector employment gains continued in March but at a slower pace than in the prior month. Employers added 189,000 jobs last month, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Wednesday. ADP revised February's gain slightly to 214,000 from a prior estimate of 212,000. This is the lowest increase in the monthly ADP since January 2014. Economists use ADP's data to get a feeling for the Labor Department's employment report, which will be released Friday and covers government jobs in addition to the private sector. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the government's report to show that nonfarm payroll rose by a 252,000 jobs last month, down from a gain of 295,000 in February. Economists note the ADP survey has sharply underperformed payroll data over the past several months.