UPDATE: ADP Payroll Numbers Show Positive Trend in Labor Market

The ADP National Employment Report for March was released earlier today. The monthly payroll numbers came in at 209,000 vs 200,000 estimates indicating that the labor market continues to improve in the United States. Additionally, the previous month's payroll numbers were revised higher. From December to January was revised up by 9,000 to 182,000 and from January to February was revised up by 14,000 to 230,000. The reports states that the biggest employment gains came from small business hiring. Also, the service-providing sector hired over three times as many employees as the goods-producing sector. Carlos Rodriguez, President and CEO of ADP said: "During the first quarter of this year, monthly gains in employment shown in The ADP National Employment Report averaged 207,000 jobs, compared to 156,000 per month over all of 2011. This is a positive development, and I would hope that job growth will be even more robust for the remainder of the year." The improving employment numbers could benefit consumer stocks, such as Consumer Discretionary SPDR ETF XLY, Nike NKE, and Express (NASDAQ EXPR). The US government's employment report for March, will be released on Friday. If the same trend continues, March non-farm payroll numbers could beat the estimates of 200,000. This could also lead to a lower unemployment rate of 8.2% vs the prior rate of 8.3%.