ADP Reports 98,000 New Jobs in June, Misses Forecasts

ADP reported that 98,000 new private sector jobs were added in June, falling short of forecasts.

Private employers added just 98,000 jobs in June, according to the ADP National Employment Report, missing economist expectations of around 110,000 and down from 122,000 in May. The report extends a soft patch in private hiring that ADP has now flagged for six consecutive months.

The gains were narrow: education and health services contributed about 48,000 positions, with trade and transportation and financial activities adding smaller amounts, while leisure and hospitality nearly stalled. Smaller firms did most of the hiring, and year-over-year pay growth held around 4.4% for job stayers, pointing to a cooling but not collapsing labor market.

Markets treated the miss as reinforcing the case for eventual Federal Reserve rate cuts, and attention now turns to the more comprehensive Bureau of Labor Statistics payrolls report. Because ADP and BLS figures often diverge, investors will compare the two closely for confirmation. Payroll processor ADP publishes the report as a monthly read on private hiring, and a sustained slowdown could support rate-sensitive equities while raising questions about consumer spending.