Catenaa, Wednesday, March 05, 2025– Hiring at US private sector companies slowed down in February to the lowest in six months, ADP data showed on Wednesday, as policy uncertainty and less consumer demand slowed hiring.
ADP National Employment Report showed that Private-sector hiring increased by 77,000 in February, down from a revised 186,000 in January
The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of Friday’s more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for February from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month,” Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, said in a statement. “Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead
Most of the job cuts were in the services sector, with trade, transportation and utilities as well as education and health care registering the biggest declines. Goods-producing employment rose by 42,000, the most since October 2022.
A regional breakdown suggested inclement weather may have played a role in the sharp deceleration in overall employment, with the South and West seeing outright reductions in headcount.
By business size, those with less than 20 employees were the only ones to see cuts, while businesses with more than 500 employees have the highest hiring of 37,000.
The ADP report, which also covers the payrolls of 25 million private sector employees, showed that wage growth was little changed. Workers who changed jobs saw a 6.7% increase in pay, while those who stayed put saw a 4.7% gain.
