June's private-sector payroll count came in at a seasonally adjusted 98,000, according to ADP data, falling short of both the prior month's 122,000 tally and the 110,000 that analysts had projected.
Within the services category, which generated all but 2,000 of June's new positions, the education and health services sector was the single largest contributor at 48,000 jobs. Trade, transportation, and utilities followed at 15,000, with financial activities at 14,000 and other services at 8,000. Among goods-producing industries, construction gained 2,000 workers and manufacturing gained 5,000, though natural resources and mining moved in the opposite direction, cutting 5,000 positions to become the only sector that finished the month in negative territory.
The hospitality and leisure sector posted a gain of only 2,000 jobs, marking yet another month of sluggish growth in what ADP characterized as a persistent soft patch now stretching six consecutive months.
Smaller employers carried much of the hiring weight in June, with firms of fewer than 50 workers responsible for 53,000 new positions. The remaining gains were split between the largest employers — those with 500 or more on payroll, who added 25,000 — and mid-sized companies, which contributed 29,000.
"The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand. We know it's taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement. "For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation."
On the wage side, year-over-year pay growth for employees who remained with their employers stayed at 4.4%, while workers who changed jobs commanded 6.6% increases, CNBC reported.
June's figure represents a reversal from the trend in May, when private employers added 122,000 jobs — the strongest monthly total since January 2025 — with gains described as broad-based across industries and employer sizes. At the time, Richardson said the labor market was showing sustained momentum heading into the summer hiring season.
The ADP report arrives one day before the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its nonfarm payrolls count for June. The government report, which also captures public-sector hiring, has generally shown stronger job creation than ADP's figures in recent months. The official May payrolls report showed the economy added 172,000 nonfarm jobs, well above expectations. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect Thursday's government report to show 115,000 jobs added in June, with the jobless rate unchanged at 4.3%.