Private sector employment rose by 44,000 jobs in July, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Annual pay increased 4.4 percent year-over-year.
The report draws on anonymized weekly payroll data from more than 26 million private-sector employees and tracks more than 15 million individual pay change observations each month.
Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, noted shifting patterns in the labor market. “Job-changers are highly sensitive to real-time economic conditions, and their rapid pay growth implies supply constraints in parts of the labor market,” she said. “Typical hiring patterns, meanwhile, are changing as employers react to shifting macroeconomic conditions.”
Sector results were mixed. Goods-producing industries lost 3,000 jobs, with natural resources and mining down 6,000, construction up 1,000 and manufacturing up 2,000. Service-providing industries added 47,000 jobs. Education and health services led with 36,000 new positions, followed by financial activities at 10,000 and professional and business services at 9,000. Leisure and hospitality declined by 11,000, while trade, transportation and utilities fell by 8,000.
Regional figures also varied. The Northeast gained 37,000 jobs, the South added 9,000, and the West increased by 7,000. The Midwest lost 9,000 positions.
By establishment size, small firms with 1 to 19 employees added 27,000 jobs. Large establishments with 500 or more employees gained 13,000. Medium-sized firms contributed more modestly.
Job-stayers saw steady pay growth of 4.4 percent year-over-year, according to Pay Insights. Job-changers, however, saw pay growth jump to 7 percent, the strongest year-over-year increase since August 2025.
Among job-stayers, manufacturing recorded a 5.0 percent median pay rise, financial activities 5.2 percent and construction 4.5 percent. Smaller firms with fewer than 20 employees posted slower growth at 2.4 percent, while larger firms generally saw gains near 4.8 percent.
The June job total was revised downward from 98,000 to 95,000. The next ADP National Employment Report is scheduled for release on September 2, 2026.
The data provide a high-frequency look at private-sector labor conditions and remain consistent with uneven hiring across industries and continued wage pressure for workers switching jobs.
