Expect further job losses s Obamacare costs and taxes kick in.

By Timothy R. Homan and Courtney Schlisserman at Bloomberg

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Companies in the U.S. unexpectedly cut payrolls in March, according to data from a private report based on payrolls.

The 23,000 decline was the smallest in two years and followed a revised 24,000 drop the prior month, data from ADP Employer Services showed today. Over the previous six months, ADP’s initial figures have overstated the Labor Department’s first estimate of private payroll losses by as little as 2,000 in February to as much as 151,000 in November.

Companies are still hesitant to add workers until they see sustained sales gains and are convinced the economic recovery has taken hold. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipate the government’s report April 2 will show payrolls increased by 184,000, in part due to temporary hiring by the federal government to conduct the 2010 census and because of better weather compared with February.

“The labor market trend is still up,” said David Milleker, chief economist at Union Investment GmbH in Frankfurt, who was the only economist in a Bloomberg News survey to forecast the ADP figures would show a loss of jobs. “Today’s numbers might have disappointed relative to expectations but indicate not in the least a change in trend. It takes some more time for private sector job creation to return to normal.”

FULL STORY

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