Private-sector hiring hit the brakes in August. According to the latest ADP report, businesses added just 38,000 jobs.
This was the weakest monthly gain in seven months and below economists' expectations.
During the month of July, the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs. June job gains were also modest, with the economy adding just 20,000 jobs, below previous estimates.
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"Pay can tell us a lot about today's choppy hiring," said Dr. Nela Richardson Chief Economist, ADP. "To understand hiring patterns, you have to look deeply into where pay growth is accelerating, where it's slowing, and for whom. Once-predictable wage growth has been overtaken by the complexities of demographic change, persistent inflation, and AI's effects on jobs."
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The biggest hiring gains came in health care, education, construction and hospitality. Meanwhile, retail, manufacturing, tech and other white-collar sectors lost jobs.
Pay growth also cooled, with wages rising 3-point-2 percent from a year ago. The government's official jobs report comes out Friday.
