Private sector employment increased by 132,000 jobs in August, according to the August ADP National Employment Report produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab
“Our data suggests a shift toward a more conservative pace of hiring, possibly as companies try to decipher the economy’s conflicting signals,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in a statement. “We could be at an inflection point, from super-charged job gains to something more normal.”
Firms in the leisure/hospitality sector created 96,000 jobs, whereas education/health services companies lost a collective 15,000 jobs, and professional/business services businesses lost a total of 14,000 jobs.
The South was the region where the highest number of jobs was created, at 76,000. Meanwhile, 7,000 were lost in the Midwest.
Firms with 50 to 249 employees gained the most jobs, at 74,000. Companies with one to 19 workers collectively lost the most jobs, 47,000.
Annual pay up 7.6%
Meanwhile, the year-over-year change in annual pay in August was 7.6%, according to the report.
“In early 2021, annual pay increases were running at about 2%,” according to the institute. “While the pace of pay increases is elevated, its growth has flattened.”
By gender, the year-over-year median pay change in August was 7.8% for women and 7.5% for men.
By age, the year-over-year median pay change in August was 5.1% for those aged 55 to 85. It marked the smallest percent year-over-year change of any age group. The year-over-year median pay change was 7.4% for those aged 35 to 54, 11% among those aged 25 to 34, and 14.5% for those aged 16 to 24.
For job changers, the year-over-year median pay change in August was 16.1%, and it was 7.6% for job stayers.
By industry, the year-over-year median pay change in August was 6.8% for education and health services, 6.8% for professional and business services and 12.1% for leisure and hospitality.
By firm size, the year-over-year median pay change in August was 5.4% for companies with one to 19 employees, 7.2%% for firms with 20 to 49 workers, 7.9% for organizations with 50 to 249 staffers, 7.8% for companies with 250 to 499 employees, and 8.3% for firms with 500 or more workers.
The jobs report and pay insights use ADP’s anonymized and aggregated payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees.
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