ADP National Employment Report

According to the ADP National Employment Report, produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and released on September 30, 2026, U.S. private-sector employment rose by 90,000 jobs in September. This marks a significant rebound from the prior month's gain of 38,000 — later revised down to 36,000 — and represents the first acceleration in hiring since May.

By sector, education and health services led gains with 55,000 jobs added, followed by leisure and hospitality at 22,000. Manufacturing added 17,000 and construction contributed 15,000. Financial activities and professional and business services showed weakness.

According to ADP Pay Insights, median base pay for private-sector workers rose 3.2% year over year, while gross pay increased 4.7%. Base pay for job-stayers grew 3.0%, compared with 4.8% for job-changers. ADP Chief Economist Dr. Nela Richardson noted that "after a three-month slowdown, job creation rebounded and pay growth remained solid."

ADP Research, in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, released the August 2026 ADP National Employment Report on September 2, 2026. Private-sector employment rose by 38,000 jobs, down from the upwardly revised July figure of 46,000 (initially reported as 44,000), marking the weakest monthly gain since January.

By sector, service-providing industries added 48,000 jobs, led by education and health services (+45,000), leisure and hospitality (+16,000), and construction (+12,000). Goods-producing industries posted a net loss of 10,000 jobs, driven by a decline of 17,000 in manufacturing, while professional and business services also shed 16,000 positions. By employer size, large firms with 500 or more workers accounted for 34,000 of the gains, while businesses with fewer than 50 employees contributed just 3,000.

On the pay front, base pay for all private-sector workers rose 3.2% year over year and gross pay climbed 4.7%. For job-stayers, base pay increased 3.0% and gross pay rose 4.4%; for job-changers, the respective figures were 4.7% and 7.3%. ADP Chief Economist Dr. Nela Richardson noted that pay data reflects the uneven nature of today's hiring environment.

ADP Research released its July 2026 National Employment Report on August 5, showing that U.S. private-sector payrolls grew by 44,000 jobs, a sharp decline from the 98,000 jobs added in June. The report, produced in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, is an independent measure of the labor market based on anonymized payroll data from more than 26 million private-sector employees.

Prior to the monthly release, ADP's weekly NER Pulse data had already signaled a softening labor market, with hiring slowing for five consecutive weeks through the period ending July 11. In the June report, annual pay growth was recorded at 4.4 percent year-over-year; detailed breakdowns for July, including pay data, are included in the full August 5 release.

Payroll processor ADP reported on July 1 that US private-sector employment increased by 98,000 jobs in June 2026, slowing from a gain of 122,000 in May. Annual pay was up 4.4% year over year.

By industry, education and health services added 48,000 jobs, accounting for nearly half of the total, followed by trade, transportation and utilities (+15,000) and financial activities (+14,000). Natural resources and mining, down 5,000, was the only sector to shed jobs.

Pay growth held at 4.4% year over year for job stayers and edged up to 6.6% for job changers. ADP chief economist Nela Richardson noted that job searches are taking longer while some industries face labor supply constraints, with the overall effect being slower job creation.