“Small nonfarm payrolls hit a six-month high

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. ADP employment figures for March were released, recording an increase of 517,000, a record high since September last year, with the previous value revised upward to 176,000. Spot Gold fell nearly $5 in the short term and is now at $1683.11/oz. At 21:33, spot gold was back above $1690/oz and then continued to move higher, accumulating nearly $20 since the data was released, up to $1697.32/oz.

Breakdown data at a glance

ADP reported that employment was increasing in all industries in March.
Construction employment increased by 32,000, compared with a decrease of 0.3 million in February.
Manufacturing employment increased by 49,000, compared to a decrease of 14,000 in February.
Employment in trade/transportation/utilities increased by 92,000, compared to an increase of 48,000 in February
Employment in professional/business services increased by 83,000, compared with an increase of 22,000 in February
Financial services employment increased by 0.9 million, unchanged in February.

ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson commented.

There was a marked improvement in the labor market data in March, with the report showing the strongest growth since September 2020. Employment growth in the service sector clearly exceeded the recent monthly average, with the most significant job gains in the leisure and hospitality sector.

The job market continues to recover slowly across the board, as we see large firms increasingly feeling the effects of the new crown Epidemic and stagnant job growth in the goods manufacturing sector. With the epidemic still dominating, the service sector remains well below pre-epidemic levels. However, these sectors are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries as opening hours pass and consumer confidence increases.

Reuters believes that the U.S. private sector increased hiring in March as more Americans received the new crown vaccine, driving the economy toward a broader reopening, which is expected to unleash a wave of pent-up demand in the coming months.

Yahoo Finance noted that the U.S. private sector added fewer jobs than expected in March, despite the easing of severe weather in February and the acceleration of the U.S. vaccination program. The service sector once again easily led the job recovery trend. Before this report, there have been several indicators suggesting an improvement in the employment situation at the beginning of spring, in which the consumer confidence index rose to a one-year high, and stronger consumer trends and increased demand will give rise to more jobs.

The U.S. economic outlook is improving as expected

As Yahoo Finance notes, despite the modest actual increase in ADP employment and based on the large number of job losses caused by business closures last year, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) released by the World Federation of Large Businesses also rose unexpectedly to 109.7 in March, well above expectations of 96.9 and also above February’s It was also up from 91.3 in February, reaching its highest level in a year.

The World Federation of Large Businesses’ Current and Expectations Indexes also rose sharply in March, with the former rising from 89.6 to 110.0 and the latter rising from 90.9 to 109.6.

The Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey score of 84.9 in March was the highest in a year, up from 76.8 in the previous reading and easily exceeding the 78.5 estimate. The index is also between the 101-point February 2020 and the 71.8-point April low.

Credit and foreign exchange markets see the unexpected jump in consumer optimism as an indication that the U.S. economic outlook is improving as expected. The White House will present its infrastructure plan to senators at 10:30 a.m. local Time (22:30 BST tonight), wary of pressure on gold prices from higher U.S. bond yields and the dollar.