August ADP US Private Payrolls Rise Less Than Expected Ahead of BLS Data

08:30 AM EDT, 09/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 38,000 increase in August, well below expectations compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:45 am ET for an increase of 47,000 after a 46,000 increase in July. By sector, goods-producing jobs fell by 10,000, led by a 17,000 decrease in manufacturing sector jobs, while service-providing jobs were up 48,000, with education and health services jobs up 45,000 and leisure and hospitality jobs up 16,000. "Pay can tell us a lot about today's choppy hiring," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. "To understand hiring patterns, you have to look deeply into where pay growth is accelerating, where it's slowing, and for whom. Once-predictable wage growth has been overtaken by the complexities of demographic change, persistent inflation, and AI's effects on jobs."