US Private Payrolls Rise 38K
US private payrolls increased by 38K in August, below expectations, with services driving the growth
The US private payrolls rose by 38K in August, according to the latest report from Automatic Data Processing (ADP), which is below the expected 47K. This is the weakest tally since January, with services carrying the full load of new private-sector hires.
The report from ADP, cited by Nasdaq, shows that services added 48K new jobs, while goods-producing jobs lost 10K. Small firms with less than 50 employees hired the most, with 23K new jobs, followed by large businesses with more than 500 employees, which added 13K new jobs. Medium-sized companies hired 8K new employees.
Jobs Growth by Sector
The jobs growth was led by the Education/Healthcare sector, which added 45K new hires in August, followed by Leisure/Hospitality with 16K, and Construction with 12K. However, Professional/Business Services lost 16K positions, and Manufacturing lost 17K.
Market Expectations
The report comes ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which is projected to grow by 53K jobs in August. This would be a solid bounce-back from the negative 23K in July. The overall labor market looks pretty flat over the past three years, with an average of 23K new jobs created per month since the start of 2025.
Economic Indicators
The WTI spot oil price is currently at $89 per barrel, with Brent crude up to $94 per barrel. The Dow is up 125 points, the S&P 500 is up 5 points, and the Nasdaq is down 33 points. The small-cap Russell 2000 is up 4 points. The market is also expecting the release of Factory Orders for July, which is expected to rebound to 0.7% from a disappointing -0.3% reported for June.
The following table shows the expected and actual jobs growth:
| Category | Expected | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Private Payrolls | +47K | +38K |
| Services | +48K | |
| Goods-producing | -10K | |
| Small firms | +23K | |
| Large businesses | +13K | |
| Medium-sized companies | +8K |
The report from ADP has been cited by Nasdaq, which also reports that the Fed will release its latest Beige Book, an economic summary from each of its 12 districts, at 2pm. Additionally, several companies, including Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, Snowflake, and PVH Corp, will report their quarterly results after the close.
