The U.S. labor market worsened again in March, as private-sector firms cut 742,000 jobs in March, signaling another terrible employment report on Friday, according to the ADP employment index released Wednesday. It was the largest job loss recorded by ADP in its nine-year history. The report comes two days before the Labor Department reports its estimate for nonfarm payrolls. Economists were looking for nonfarm payrolls to fall by 663,000. In March, the goods-producing sector shed 327,000 jobs, the 27th consecutive decline. Manufacturing lost 206,000 jobs, while construction lost 118,000. The services sector lost a record 415,000 jobs. The ADP index does not include government jobs. Adding in the typical 12,000 jobs gained in the public sector, the ADP report points to nonfarm payrolls falling by 730,000, compared with the MarketWatch consensus of 663,000. "Despite some recent indications that stock prices, consumer spending, and housing activity may be bottoming out, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to remain very weak for at least several more months," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomics Advisers, the economic consulting firm that computes the ADP index from anonymous payroll data provided by ADP. The February ADP index was revised down by 9,000 to a loss of 706,000 compared with the 697,000 initially reported. In March, small businesses (those with less than 50 employees) cut 284,000 jobs. Large businesses (with more than 500 employees) cut 128,000 jobs, while medium-sized businesses cut 330,000 in March. The index is computed by Macroeconomic Advisers using anonymous payroll data collected by ADP. Automatic Data Processing Inc. provides payroll and human-resources services to about one in every six U.S. workers, serving more than 500,000 companies. The ADP sample is taken during the same week of the month as the government's survey, using similar methods.

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