The non-farm private sector gained 374,000 jobs in August, according to the ADP National Employment Report. This follows a revised July increase of 326,000 jobs.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees gained 86,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses with 50-499 employees gained 149,000, while large businesses increased by 138,000 jobs.
“Our data, which represents all workers on a company’s payroll, has highlighted a downshift in the labor market recovery. We have seen a decline in new hires, following significant job growth from the first half of the year,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “Despite the slowdown, job gains are approaching 4 million this year, yet still 7 million jobs short of pre-COVID-19 levels. Service providers continue to lead growth, although the Delta variant creates uncertainty for this sector. Job gains across company sizes grew in lockstep, with small businesses trailing a bit more than usual.”
Service-providing employment led the increase with 329,000 jobs gained, driven by the leisure & hospitality and education & health sectors, which rose by 201,000 and 59,000 jobs respectively.
Goods-producing employment rose by 45,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector gained 6,000 jobs and construction rose by 30,000 jobs. Natural resources/mining rose by 9,000 jobs.
Read the ADP report.
