Private employment declined by 32,000 jobs in September, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.
“Despite the strong economic growth we saw in the second quarter,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, “this month’s release further validates what we’ve been seeing in the labor market, that U.S. employers have been cautious with hiring.”
The September figure represents a significant shift from typical monthly gains and was influenced by ADP’s annual preliminary rebenchmarking, which resulted in a reduction of 43,000 jobs compared to pre-benchmarked data. Additionally, August’s job creation was revised downward from 54,000 to -3,000 jobs.
Service-providing industries bore the brunt of the decline, shedding 28,000 jobs in September. The hardest-hit sectors included professional/business services (-13,000), leisure/hospitality (-19,000), and other services (-16,000). Education/health services provided the only bright spot among major sectors, adding 33,000 jobs.
Goods-producing industries shed 3,000 jobs overall, with construction down 5,000 and manufacturing down 2,000. Natural resources/mining added 4,000 positions.
Annual pay gains held relatively steady at 4.5% for job-stayers in September, while pay increases for job-changers slowed from 7.1% to 6.6%, driven primarily by slower wage growth in leisure/hospitality and financial activities.
