Companies reduced payrolls by 27,000 in early March before the worst of the coronavirus-induced economic freeze, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody's Analytics.

Actual losses for the month were far worse as indicated by the millions of people who already have filed unemployment claims. Wednesday's report covers the period through March 12.

It was the first time the private payroll count had contracted in 10 years, and total job losses probably will total 10 million to 15 million, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's.

"It's been 10 straight years of consistent, solid job growth, and the virus has put an end to that," Zandi said on a media conference call.

"Much bigger job losses are coming," he added.

Just 6% of companies indicated they are hiring, a level worse than during the financial crisis and comparable to about 40% for a typical month, Zandi said.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a loss of 125,000 jobs. However, the March ADP count as well as Friday's nonfarm payrolls report cover periods before the government instituted social distancing measures that have shut down large parts of the U.S. economy.

The March ADP number comes after a February gain of 179,000, revised lower from the initially reported 183,000.

The only employment numbers that are measuring the coronavirus impact in somewhat real time are the weekly initial jobless claims counts. Last week, first-time claims numbered nearly 3.3 million and are expected to show another 3.1 million when that number comes out Thursday.

The ADP count does show, however, that companies already were beginning to cut in a labor market that had been roaring.