US private payrolls surge past estimates in March

Employers in the US private sector hired 184,000 workers in March, data by Automatic Data Processing showed. It has been the largest increase in hiring since July 2023 and followed a revised up employment growth of 155,000 in February.

In comparison, market consensus had pointed to private payrolls growth of 148,000.

Employment in US services sector went up by 142,000 in March, while the goods-producing sector created 42,000 jobs.

Pay gains for job-stayers remained unchanged at 5.1%, while pay gains for job-changers increased to 10%, ADP said.

The largest pay raises were observed in construction, financial services and manufacturing.

The US Dollar Index, which reflects the relative strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was inching down 0.05% to 104.699 on Wednesday.

The DXY held not far from yesterday’s 5-month high of 105.100.

Federal Reserve Chair Powell is expected to speak at the Stanford Graduate School of Business at 16:10 GMT, while traders will be looking for hints regarding the central bank’s interest rate trajectory.