Private payrolls rose by 109,000 in April, topping expectations, ADP says
Stephanie Horrigan recruits for job opportunities at Life Alert during the Mega JobNewsUSA South Florida Job Fair at Amerant Bank Arena on April 30, 2026 in Sunrise, Florida.
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Private sector job creation was stronger than expected in April, providing further evidence of a stable labor market and less incentive for the Fed to cut interest rates amid persistently high inflation, ADP reported Wednesday.
The payroll processing company said companies added 109,000 jobs during the month, a step higher than the 61,000 created in March and better than Dow Jones’ consensus estimate of 84,000. The March total was revised downwards by 1,000 units.
Wages of those who remained in their jobs increased by 4.4%, down 0.1 percentage point annually.
As always, job creation is concentrated in a few key categories; This is an indication that although hiring is strong overall, the benefits are not spreading across sectors.
Education and healthcare came to the fore again, adding 61,000 new hires. Commerce, transportation and utilities gained $25,000. Construction, another steady leader in recent months, increased by 10,000, while financial activities contributed 9,000.
The Trump administration’s tariff efforts to redistribute jobs through tariffs also showed only modest gains; 2,000 people were added to the sector. Entertainment, accommodation and information services each increased by 4,000. Professional and business services reported 8,000 losses.
In terms of size, companies with fewer than 50 employees added 65,000, while companies with 500 or more employees added 42,000.
Dr. “Employers small and large are hiring, but we are seeing softness,” Nela Richardson said.
He is ADP’s chief economist. “Large companies have the resources to deploy, and small ones are the most agile—both important advantages in a complex operating environment.”
Although the headline figure was better than expected, it is broadly consistent with what Fed policymakers and economists have described as a low-hiring, low-fire environment in which companies are reluctant to lay off workers but also significantly cut hiring.
Current conditions, where the labor market has defied fears of a deeper bottom and inflation remains high mainly due to tariffs and the impact of the Iran war, have kept the Fed in a steady pattern on interest rates.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the rate, voted once again last week to keep the key interest rate unchanged. But the vote featured an unusually high number of four dissenting votes, including three officials who thought the committee should remove language from its post-meeting statement that the Fed’s next move would be to cut interest rates.
Markets will now turn their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wall Street’s consensus is for job growth to be 55,000 and the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.3%.
The BLS report differs from the ADP in that it includes government jobs. Additionally, ADP’s data set is aimed more at small and medium-sized businesses.
