ADP: Job Growth Cools for Third Consecutive Month

Job growth in the private sector cooled in June, marking the third consecutive month of a slowdown.

Private employers added 150,000 jobs during the month, ADP said in a Wednesday (July 3) press release.

The month’s total was down from the revised total of 157,000 jobs added in May, according to the release, and the 188,000 jobs added in April.

“Job growth has been solid, but not broad-based,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in the release. “Had it not been for a rebound in hiring in leisure and hospitality, June would have been a downbeat month.”

The leisure and hospitality sector added 63,000 jobs in June, according to ADP. During the previous month, hiring in that space had slowed, with only 12,000 jobs added.

The report comes days after the Department of Labor said the number of people receiving unemployment benefits reached its highest levels in over two years.

The insured unemployment number for the week ended June 15 was 1,839,000, a figure that was 18,000 higher than the previous week’s revised total and “the highest level for insured unemployment since November 27, 2021, when it was 1,878,000,” the DOL said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its monthly employment report Friday (July 5), and economists expect the gain in nonfarm payrolls — which includes both private- and public-sector jobs — to be lower than it was in the previous month, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Among the 10 industry sectors tracked by ADP, seven saw job gains in June, the human resources (HR) and payroll solution provider said in its press release.

Along with leisure and hospitality, other sectors seeing growth during the month were construction (27,000 jobs); professional and business services (25,000); other services (16,000); trade, transportation and utilities (15,000); financial activities (11,000); and education and health services (9,000), according to the release.

The natural resources and mining sector saw a decline of 8,000 jobs, and the manufacturing sector lost 5,000 jobs and the information sector saw a loss of 3,000 jobs, per the release.

Pay gains also slowed in June, according to the release. Job-stayers saw a year-over-year gain of 4.9% — the slowest pace of growth since August 2021 — while job-changers saw a gain of 7.7%, which also marked a slowdown.