RJ and Makay

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BNY Mellon vice chairman Karen Peetz is the most powerful woman in banking, according to American Banker Magazine, which just released its list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking.  Peetz manages about 17,000 employees worldwide and is the first female vice chairman in Mellon’s history.  She rose to number one from a third place ranking last year.

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.

Although the job market hasn't shown much improvement since the recession began, projections for job growth in 2011 are optimistic. That's because the earliest signs of revival are there.

Businesses increased their payrolls by 103,000 workers in December, for example, and the Labor Department recently revised its initial estimates of October and November job gains upward by 70,000. Furthermore, unemployment fell to 9.4% from 9.8% in November (although that drop partly reflected people who have simply stopped looking for work).