U.S. private employers added 38,000 jobs in August, ADP reported on Wednesday, the smallest monthly gain since January and below economist expectations. The figure trailed the prior month’s revised reading and pointed to cooling hiring across the summer.
MarketWatch cited a slightly lower count of 36,000 from the same release, a second consecutive modest increase after July’s soft print. Either figure sits well beneath the pace seen earlier in the year and confirms a second straight month of tepid job creation.
The August number missed consensus by a wide margin, with forecasters having penciled in a stronger gain. The miss extended a broader deceleration that has taken hold since the spring, when monthly readings still ran comfortably above current levels.
ADP’s payrolls series tracks hiring at private companies and is published two days before the government’s official employment report. The two datasets often diverge, but the ADP print offers desks an early read on labor-market momentum heading into Friday’s release.
The slowdown echoes earlier signs of fatigue in the U.S. jobs market. A softening in private payroll gains through the summer had already flagged a step down from the hiring pace of previous quarters.
A weaker labor market feeds directly into rate expectations. Traders have watched each employment data point for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move, and back-to-back light readings strengthen the case for policy easing at upcoming meetings.
Positioning ahead of Friday’s non-farm payrolls report will hinge on whether the government figures corroborate the ADP slowdown. A matching soft print would harden bets on a rate cut, while an upside surprise could unwind them.
The next key data point arrives Friday with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics non-farm payrolls and unemployment release.