The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Wednesday the U.S. private employers added 517,000 jobs in March. This marked the largest increase in private-sector employment since September 2020.

Economists had expected an increase of 550,000.

The February number saw an upward revision to 176,000 from the originally reported 117,000.

“We saw marked improvement in March’s labor market data, reporting the strongest gain since September 2020,” noted Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “Job growth in the service sector significantly outpaced its recent monthly average, led with notable increase by the leisure and hospitality industry. This sector has the most opportunity to improve as the economy continues to gradually reopen and the vaccine is made more widely available. We are continuing to keep a close watch on the hardest hit sectors but the groundwork is being laid for a further boost in the monthly pace of hiring in the months ahead.”