US private hiring fell in March amid the coronavirus pandemic, with small businesses suffering the biggest losses, however the report almost certainly underestimated the damage, according to data Wednesday from payrolls firm ADP.
Total employment fell by 27,000 in the month, the biggest -- and only -- drop since September 2017, according to ADP's monthly report.
Small business jobs suffered their largest setback since the worst of the global financial crisis in early 2009, plunging by 90,000, with the smallest firms employing less than 20 employees taking the biggest hit, the report said.
However, like the government jobs report due out Friday, the private data in the ADP National Employment Report looks at payroll data in the week including the 12th day of the month -- which was before the most stringent of the lockdowns due to COVID-19 took effect and forced businesses nationwide to close their doors.
"As such, the March NER does not reflect the full impact of COVID-19 on the overall employment situation," ADP cautioned.
The consensus forecast among economists expected a decline of around 175,000, but analysts note the data will be hard to forecast and they caution that the closely-watched employment report from the Labor Department also is expected to dramatically underestimate the damage to the economy.
More recent data from the Labor Department showed 3.3 million workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 21. The ADP data showed both goods and services firms lost jobs, with the biggest decline of 37,000 suffered by trade/transportation/utilities firms.
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