Private-sector employers in the United States added 44,000 jobs in July, ADP Research data showed on Wednesday, marking the slowest monthly hiring pace since the beginning of 2026. The July gain represents a drop from June's revised increase of 95,000 and came in under every forecast polled in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The ADP release, produced in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, highlighted differing wage dynamics across the labor force. Workers who changed employers earned 7% higher pay compared with a year earlier - the fastest year-over-year increase in nearly a year. By contrast, employees who remained with the same employer recorded wage growth of 4.4%.
Wage gains were uneven across industries. The financial activities and manufacturing sectors registered stronger pay increases than other parts of the economy, according to the ADP data.
This private payrolls report arrives ahead of the government's monthly jobs report, which is scheduled for release on Friday. Market participants and policymakers will look to the official government figures for confirmation of the employment trend signaled by the ADP numbers.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh described the labor market as "solid" and "steady" during a press conference last week following the Fed's decision to leave interest rates unchanged. The policy meeting produced some internal disagreement: three officials voted to raise rates at that meeting.
The ADP figures and the Fed chair's comments together provide a snapshot of a labor market that is still expanding but at a markedly slower clip, while wage growth shows a clear divide between job changers and stayers. With the government report imminent, the ADP release will be weighed alongside official payrolls data as analysts and investors assess the outlook for labor markets and monetary policy.