Private payrolls in August rose by just 99,000, marking the smallest gain since 2021 and falling far below expectations, payroll service Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) announced Thursday morning.
According to ADP’s summary, “Private businesses in the United States hired 99,000 workers in August 2024, compared to 122,000 in July 2024.” The ADP Employment Change in the United States has averaged 162,530 workers from 2010 to 2024, reaching a peak of 1,081,000 in July 2021 and a record low of -6,759,000 in April 2020.
As CNBC reports:
Companies hired just 99,000 workers for the month, less than the downwardly revised 111,000 in July and below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 140,000.
The report corroborates multiple data points recently that show hiring has slowed considerably from its blistering pace following the Covid outbreak in early 2020.
Job openings in July also touched their lowest point since January 2021, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday, while outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that this was the worst August for layoffs since 2009 and the slowest year for hiring since the firm started tracking the metric in 2005.
Still, the ADP data showed that while hiring has slowed considerably, only a few sectors reported actual job losses. Professional and business services declined 16,000, manufacturing lost 8,000, and information services declined by 4,000.
The ADP private payroll report and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment report both track the labor market but in different ways. The ADP report focuses only on private-sector jobs, using data from ADP’s clients, and doesn’t include government employment. It’s released monthly, just before the BLS report.
The BLS unemployment report covers both private and public-sector jobs, making it more comprehensive. It gathers data from two surveys: one measures jobs gained or lost, while the other looks at the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate reflects people actively looking for work.
While both reports usually show similar trends, they don’t always match exactly. The ADP report can differ from the BLS due to the way the data is collected and what it includes. ADP doesn’t account for government jobs, which is one reason the two reports may show different numbers. Despite this, both reports give valuable insights into the overall job market.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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