Private payrolls rose 41,000, slightly below expectations,
“Join Our Team” flyer at the Appalachian State University internship and job fair on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 in Boone, North Carolina, USA.
Allison Joyce | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Private sector job creation turned positive in December, albeit slightly slower than expected, payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.
Companies added 41,000 hires for the month, following a loss of 29,000 in November; This provided a positive sign for the otherwise struggling labor market as 2025 comes to an end. Private company payrolls had fallen in three of the four months before the December announcement.
The final figure was slightly lower than Dow Jones’ consensus estimate of 48,000.
Payroll growth came entirely from service industries, as education and health-related fields added 39,000 jobs, while the entertainment and hospitality industry added 24,000 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities increased by 11,000, while financial services increased by 6,000.
These gains were offset by losses of 29,000 in professional and business services and 12,000 in information services.
Goods-producing industries suffered losses of 3,000, mainly due to a decline of 5,000 in manufacturing.
Nearly all of the job gains occurred at companies employing fewer than 500 workers. Larger companies added just 2,000 people.
“Small businesses recovered from November job losses as year-end hiring was positive;
Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said employers are pulling back.
The November total was revised from the 32,000 losses originally reported.
Wage increases continued to decline; Those who stayed their jobs saw an average annual gain of 4.4%, unchanged from November, while those who changed jobs saw gains of 6.6%, or 0.3 percentage points, better than the previous month.
The report comes two days before the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ more closely watched nonfarm payrolls count. BLS data collection was disrupted by the government shutdown. This will be the first time the report has been released on time since the impasse was resolved.
Economists participating in the Dow Jones survey expect the number of new jobs to be 73,000 this month, compared to 64,000 in November, while the unemployment rate is predicted to decrease to 4.5%.
