- Mark Zandi, Moody's Analytics
US private companies created more jobs than markets expected last month, suggesting further tightening of the labour market. According to the ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday, the US private sector added 263,000 new jobs to the economy in March, following the preceding month's downwardly revised gain of 245,000 and surpassing analysts' expectations for an increase of 184,000. The ADP data come ahead of the US Department of Labour's more comprehensive report on non-farm employment due on Friday. Yesterday's better-than-expected figures ratchet up analysts' expectations for Friday's numbers, who initially expected the NFP report to show a gain of 174,000 jobs. Other data released by the ISM on Wednesday revealed that US services activity slowed more than expected last month, with the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI coming in at 55.2, down from the prior month's 57.6, while analysts anticipated a slight decrease to 57.0 points. In the meantime, the EIA reported US crude oil inventories climbed 1.6M barrels in the week ended March 31, missing expectations for a 0.1M barrel decrease, following the preceding week's gain of 0.9M barrels and raising concerns over the production cut agreement.
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