Private Hiring Grinds to a Near-Halt as Job Growth Hits Seven-Month Low

U.S. private employers added just 38,000 jobs in August 2026, according to the ADP National Employment Report released this week, the slowest pace of hiring since January. The report, compiled from aggregated and anonymized payroll data covering more than 26 million U.S. employees in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, showed weakness spreading beneath a headline figure that already fell well short of prior months, echoing findings that the household survey shows 1.8 million jobs lost in 2026 so far. Manufacturing, professional services, and information all shed jobs during the month, while only a handful of sectors managed to add meaningfully to payrolls. The soft reading arrives as gold hovered around $4,390 per ounce on Wednesday.

The sector breakdown points to an uneven labor market rather than broad-based strength. Education and health services led all industries with 45,000 jobs added, followed by professional and business services and leisure and hospitality, each contributing 16,000. Construction added 12,000 positions and manufacturing, despite shedding jobs by some measures cited in the report, still posted a net gain of 17,000 in the industry classification. Natural resources and mining added only 5,000, while information services lost 4,000 jobs, continuing to lag the rest of the economy.

Company size also played a role in shaping the month’s results. Large businesses with 500 or more employees accounted for the bulk of new hiring, adding 34,000 jobs, while mid-sized firms with 50 to 249 employees managed just 2,000. Small businesses fared somewhat better in relative terms, with those employing 1 to 19 workers adding 20,000 jobs and firms with 20 to 49 employees adding 17,000. The disparity suggests that hiring momentum is concentrated among the largest employers, while small and mid-sized businesses, often considered a bellwether for broader economic health, are pulling back.

Dr. Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, pointed to wage dynamics as a key lens for understanding the choppy hiring picture. “Pay can tell us a lot about today’s choppy hiring,” Richardson said. Once-predictable wage growth has been overtaken by the complexities of demographic change, persistent inflation, and AI’s effects on jobs.” Her comments come at a time when other recent data, including July’s personal income figures and the Federal Reserve’s own staff commentary, have similarly flagged inflation as a persistent complication rather than a fading concern.

Taken with other recent statistical reports, the August ADP report adds to a string of labor market indicators this year that have shown declining momentum alongside stubborn price pressures. With hiring concentrated among large firms and entire sectors losing jobs outright, the report offers little reassurance that the labor market is strengthening even as officials continue to monitor inflation’s effects on households and businesses alike.