ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 132,000 Jobs in August; Annual Pay Up 7.6%

By Jessel Thomas First Posted: Sep 05, 2022 10:49 PM EDT

Private sector employment increased by 132,000 jobs in August and annual pay was up 7.6%, according to the August ADP^® National Employment Report^TM produced by the ADP Research Institute^® in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab ("Stanford Lab").

(Photo : ADP)

The jobs report and pay insights use ADP's fine-grained anonymized and aggregated payroll data of over 25 million U.S. employees to provide a representative picture of the labor market.

The report details the current month's total private employment change, and weekly job data from the previous month. ADP's pay measure uniquely captures the earnings of a cohort of almost 10 million employees over a 12-month period.

"Our data suggests a shift toward a more conservative pace of hiring, possibly as companies try to decipher the economy's conflicting signals," said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "We could be at an inflection point, from super-charged job gains to something more normal."

August 2022 Report Highlights*

View the ADP National Employment Report and interactive charts at www.adpemploymentreport.com.

Jobs Report

Job growth slowed for second-straight month in August

Private employers created 132,000 jobs in August, a step down from the month before, when the economy created nearly 270,000 jobs. Payroll growth also slowed in July when compared to June of this year.

Change in U.S. Private Employment: 132,000

Change by Industry Sector
- Goods-producing: 23,000

Natural resources/mining 2,000
Construction 21,000
Manufacturing 0

- Service-providing: 110,000

Trade/transportation/utilities 54,000
Information -1,000
Financial activities -20,000
Professional/business services -14,000
Education/health services -15,000
Leisure/hospitality 96,000
Other services 10,000

Change by U.S. Regions
- Northeast: 23,000

New England 4,000
Middle Atlantic 19,000

- Midwest: -7,000

East North Central 24,000
West North Central -31,000

- South: 76,000

South Atlantic 33,000
East South Central 24,000
West South Central 19,000

- West: 40,000

Mountain 37,000
Pacific 3,000

Change by Establishment Size
- Small establishments: 25,000

1-19 employees -47,000
20-49 employees 72,000

- Medium establishments: 53,000

50-249 employees 74,000
250-499 employees -21,000

- Large establishments: 54,000

500+ employees 54,000

Pay Insights

Pay Growth has Stabilized at Elevated Levels

Year-over-year change in annual pay was 7.6 percent in August, in line with monthly readings since Spring 2022. In early 2021, annual pay increases were running at about 2 percent. While the pace of pay increases is elevated, its growth has flattened.

Median Change in Annual Pay (ADP matched person sample)
- Job-Stayers 7.6%
- Job-Changers 16.1%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry Sector
- Goods-producing:

Natural resources/mining 8%
Construction 6.7%
Manufacturing 7.6%

- Service-providing:

Trade/transportation/utilities 8.4%
Information 7.4%
Financial activities 7.4%
Professional/business services 6.8%
Education/health services 6.8%
Leisure/hospitality 12.1%
Other services 6.8%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Firm Size
- Small firms:

1-19 employees 5.4%
20-49 employees 7.2%

- Medium firms:

50-249 employees 7.9%
250-499 employees 7.8%

- Large firms:

500+ employees 8.3%

To see Pay Insights by U.S. State, Gender, and Age for Job-Stayers, visit here:

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

The historical data file, and weekly data for the previous month, is available at https://adpemploymentreport.com/.

To subscribe to monthly email alerts or obtain additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including employment and pay data, interactive charts, methodology, and a calendar of release dates, please visit https://adpemploymentreport.com/.

The September 2022 ADP National Employment Report will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET on October 5, 2022.