The latest ADP National Employment Report shows private-sector payrolls fell by 22,000 in January, while annual pay growth held at 4.5%. Overall hiring was tepid, with health care as the bright spot, adding 74,000 jobs. Manufacturing continued its slide, losing jobs every month since March 2024. The ADP report provides an independent, high-frequency look at the private labor market, based on aggregated, anonymized payroll data from over 25 million U.S. workers.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson noted that job growth slowed in 2025, with private employers adding 398,000 jobs compared with 771,000 in 2024, even as wage gains remained steady.
Read the full report from ADP: https://adp-ri-nrip-static.adp.com/artifacts/us_ner/20260204/ADP_NATIONAL_EMPLOYMENT_REPORT_Press_Release_2026_01%20FINAL.pdf