Private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, below expectations, ADP says

Companies in the private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, payroll processing firm ADP said in its latest report on Wednesday.

The figure is below economists’ estimates of a gain of 48,000 jobs and down from the prior month’s revised 46,000 payrolls figure.

“Pay can tell us a lot about today’s choppy hiring,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “To understand hiring patterns, you have to look deeply into where pay growth is accelerating, where it’s slowing, and for whom. Once-predictable wage growth has been overtaken by the complexities of demographic change, persistent inflation, and AI’s effects on jobs.”

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Education and health services added 45,000 positions, leading job creation in August. Leisure and hospitality added 16,000, and financial activities and other services each gained 6,000.