Private sector employment shed 32,000 jobs in September and pay was up 4.5 percent year-over-year according to the September ADP National Employment Report produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy La.
LOCAL NEWS: 10 things you may not know are manufactured in Arizona
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Want more news like this? Get our free newsletter here
The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure of the labor market based on the anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees in the United States. ADP’s Pay Insights captures nearly 14.8 million individual pay change observations each month. Together, the jobs report and pay insights use ADP’s fine-grained data to provide a representative and high-frequency picture of the private-sector labor market.
“Despite the strong economic growth we saw in the second quarter, this month’s release further validates what we’ve been seeing in the labor market, that U.S. employers have been cautious with hiring,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP.
September 2025 Report Highlights: View the ADP National Employment Report and interactive charts at www.adpemploymentreport.com.
JOBS REPORT
Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in September
ADP conducted its annual preliminary rebenchmarking of the National Employment Report in September based on the full-year 2024 results of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. This recalibration resulted in a reduction of 43,000 jobs in September compared to pre-benchmarked data. The trend was unchanged; job creation continued to lose momentum across most sectors.
Change in U.S. Private Employment : -32,000
Change by Industry
– Goods-producing: -3,000
- Natural resources/mining 4,000
- Construction -5,000
- Manufacturing -2,000
– Service-providing: -28,000
- Trade/transportation/utilities -7,000
- Information 3,000
- Financial activities -9,000
- Professional/business services -13,000
- Education/health services 33,000
- Leisure/hospitality -19,000
- Other services -16,000
Change by U.S. Regions
– Northeast: 21,000
- New England 2,000
- Mid-Atlantic 19,000
– Midwest: -63,000
- East North Central -67,000
- West North Central 4,000
– South: 3,000
- South Atlantic 5,000
- East South Central -18,000
- West South Central 16,000
– West: 15,000
- Mountain -6,000
- Pacific 21,000
Change by Establishment Size
– Small establishments: -40,000
- 1-19 employees -19,000
- 20-49 employees -21,000
– Medium establishments: -20,000
- 50-249 employees -11,000
- 250-499 employees -9,000
– Large establishments: 33,000
- 500+ employees 33,000
PAY INSIGHTS
September pay gains were steady for job-stayers
Year-over-year pay growth for job-stayers was little changed in September at 4.5 percent. Pay gains for job-changers slowed to 6.6 percent from 7.1 percent in August, led by leisure and hospitality and financial activities.
Median Change in Annual Pay
– Job-stayers 4.5%
– Job-changers 6.6%
Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry
– Goods-producing:
- Natural resources/mining 4.3%
- Construction 4.5%
- Manufacturing 4.7%
– Service-providing:
- Trade/transportation/utilities 4.3%
- Information 4.3%
- Financial activities 5.2%
- Professional/business services 4.2%
- Education/health services 4.4%
- Leisure/hospitality 4.5%
- Other services 4.1%
Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Firm Size
– Small firms:
- 1-19 employees 2.7%
- 20-49 employees 4.0%
– Medium firms:
- 50-249 employees 4.7%
- 250-499 employees 4.8%
– Large firms:
- 500+ employees 4.8%
To see Pay Insights by U.S. State, Gender, and Age for Job-Stayers, visit here:
