Private Sector Job Growth in August Well Below Forecast, ADP Says

Private companies in the United States hired just 99,000 workers last month, fewer than the downward-revised 111,000 in July and well below the market expectation of 145,000, according to payroll data firm ADP. This underperformance makes August the weakest month for job growth since January 2021, ADP said in its national employment report published Sept. 5. “The job market’s downward drift brought us to slower-than-normal hiring after two years of outsized growth,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “The next indicator to watch is wage growth, which is stabilizing after a dramatic post-pandemic slowdown.” Despite a significant slowdown in hiring, the ADP data revealed that only a few sectors experienced actual job losses. Professional and business services declined by 16,000 jobs, manufacturing lost 8,000, and information services saw a reduction of 4,000 jobs....