Private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September as federal jobs report delayed

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(The Center Square) – The private sector shed 32,000 jobs in September, according to a report Wednesday from private payroll company ADP. 

The partial government shutdown will likely postpone the federal government's jobs report expected on Friday.

The ADP report found pay was up 4.5% year-over-year according to the September ADP National Employment Report produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure of the labor market based on the anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees in the U.S.

"Despite the strong economic growth we saw in the second quarter, this month's release further validates what we've been seeing in the labor market, that U.S. employers have been cautious with hiring," said Nela Richardson, chief economist for ADP.

ADP conducted its annual preliminary rebenchmarking of the National Employment Report in September based on the full-year 2024 results of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. This recalibration resulted in a reduction of 43,000 jobs in September compared to pre-benchmarked data.

"The trend was unchanged; job creation continued to lose momentum across most sectors," the report noted.