U.S. private sector lost 23,000 jobs in March: ADP

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private sector eliminated 23,000 jobs in March unexpectedly, far from the expectations of an increase, although less than the 24,000 jobs lost in February, showed on Wednesday a report by ADP.

The data is called two days before the publication of the official report on nonfarm payrolls in March, which is expected to reflect the creation of 190,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll.

"Take a little cold water on the idea that jobs would be created in March, which is a bit disappointing," said John Connely, investment strategist and economist at LPL Financial in Boston, referring to the ADP report.

However, Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, a firm that produced the report with ADP, said that despite the weak numbers on employment in the private sector, the official number of non-farm payrolls could be positive.

The median estimate of economists polled by Reuters for the ADP report was creating 40,000 jobs in the private sector this month, from an original figure for February which had marked the loss of 20,000 work places.

Prakken said the companies are still waiting for economic recovery takes hold to start hiring again.

The report had an immediate impact on markets, where Treasury bond turned positive and Stocks extended their losses.

High unemployment has been a weak link in the path of the United States to recover from recession.

The ADP report is closely watched by markets because it is considered a good advance of the report on nonfarm payrolls that the U.S. government compiles monthly.

The report on nonfarm payrolls in February will be announced on Friday at 0830 local time (1330 GMT).