RJ and Makay

March was a solid month for the jobs market, with private U.S. employers adding 201,000 jobs, reports ADP Employer Services. The ADP report, created jointly with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, is in line with what economists expect to hear Friday from the government in its more comprehensive public and private sector employment report.

"While a touch softer than February's, this is a strong report that indicates continued momentum in the pace of labor market recovery," says Barclays Capital, noting it still expects the government's report on Friday to show 175,000 new jobs in March. In a new Reuters poll of economists, median forecasts call for increases in nonfarm and private payrolls of 190,000 and 200,000, respectively.

Employment gains last month handily beat forecasts, suggest job figures just released by ADP Employer Services. According to ADP, private employers in the U.S. added 187,000 jobs in January — 47,000 more than the 140,000 economists expected. The ADP report is based on data from about 340,000 businesses employing more than 21 million workers.

ADP's findings are likely to conflict with a pending U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) report, however. The DOL report, due out in two days, is expected to show the U.S. actually did add about 140,000 new jobs in January and that unemployment rose to 9.5%.