U.S. private employers added 200,000 jobs in March, above economists' expectations, buoyed by strong gains in construction, retail and shipping, according to a private survey showed on Wednesday.

Small firms led the way, adding 85,700 jobs while large enterprises' net hiring slowed to 38,800. But year-over-year, large firms are adding jobs at the fastest pace since May 2012, while small business hiring is the weakest since mid-2014.

"The resilience of the labor market suggests that the economy is not in any serious trouble," said Paul Ashworth, chief United States economist at Capital Economics.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics that works with ADP figures to produce the report, said there is a growing chasm between the positive message in the jobs numbers and weak economic growth.

"Bottom line, if you are trying to understand how this economy is doing, I would not pay attention to the [gross domestic product] numbers. I think they're misrepresenting the strength of the economy," Zandi told reporters on a conference call. "I would pay attention to the job numbers. We can count jobs. "

Delving into the details of ADP's report shows that construction added 17,000, which was down from February's 24,000.

The only industry reducing payrolls is energy, with low oil prices weighing on the sector.

Manufacturers added 3,000 jobs after losing 9,000 in February this year.

Employment at small- to medium-sized firms picked up pace last month while some larger business reduced hiring.

Those figures caused many economists to sharply reduce their forecasts for growth in the first quarter. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta now predicts the economy will expand at just a 0.6 percent annual rate.

That would be sharply below the fourth quarter's already-sluggish 1.4 percent growth rate.

With the economy sputtering, analysts worry that slower hiring will soon follow. The ADP numbers, however, indicate that job gains remain solid.