Report suggests job growth cooled in March

WASHINGTON - Cold weather seems to be damping otherwise healthy job creation.

U.S. businesses slowed their pace of hiring in March, a private survey found. Companies added a seasonally adjusted 189,000 jobs last month, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday. That's down from gains of 214,000 in February and less than 200,000 jobs for the first time in 13 months.

The slowdown in hiring was largely concentrated among firms with more than 1,000 employees. They added just 12,000 jobs last month, compared to 43,000 in February. The construction, financial and trade and transportation sectors all reported adding jobs at a slower pace in March than February.

Manufacturers shed 1,000 jobs in March, which likely reflects the twin drags of falling oil prices and a stronger dollar. Drilling rigs have stopped as oil prices have stayed near $50 a barrel, curbing demand for pipelines and machinery from factories.

Simultaneously, the dollar has risen in value against the euro and other currencies, making American-made goods more expensive abroad and cutting into exports. The figures come just before Friday's government report, which economists forecast will show an increase of 250,000 jobs.

Employers topped consensus forecasts in February by adding 295,000 jobs. The nation's unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent, but that was largely because many people stopped looking for work.

"Even if job growth slowed somewhat in March, the U.S. labor market is in good shape and getting better," economists with PNC Financial Services Group said in a note.

The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government's more comprehensive report, which includes government agencies.

A burst of hiring in the past year has lifted the number of Americans earning paychecks, yet average hourly wages have risen at a sluggish 2 percent pace.