US private sector axes 7,42,000 jobs in March

[dhilipkumar]

US private sector axes 7,42,000 jobs in March

US private sector job losses accelerated in March, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday.

ADP said private employers cut 742,000 jobs in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs.

Economists had expected 655,000 private-sector job cuts in March, according to a recent Reuters poll.

"The ADP report was much worse than expected. It does suggest that the labor market remains very fragile and that the outlook is dismal. This also means that we could have a very bad number on Friday and continuing job losses and higher unemployment going forward. The impact on the dollar though is muted. At the end of the day, it is a combination of the reliability of the number and also the fact that the bad news on the labor market has already been priced in." said Samarjit Shankar, Director of global strategy, Bank of New York Mellon.