U.S. Jobs Increased by 132,000 in August, Annual Pay Up 7.6%

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 produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

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.”

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.