ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 44,000 Jobs in July; Annual Pay was Up 4.4% 

Private sector employment increased by 44,000 jobs in July and pay was up 4.4 percent year-over-year according to the July ADP National Employment Report® produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab (“Stanford 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 United States. ADP’s Pay Insights captures over 15 million individual pay change observations each month. Together, the jobs report and pay insights use ADP’s fine-grained data to provide a representative and high-frequency picture of the private-sector labor market. 

“Job-changers are highly sensitive to real-time economic conditions, and their rapid pay growth implies supply constraints in parts of the labor market,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “Typical hiring patterns, meanwhile, are changing as employers react to shifting macro-economic conditions.” 

July 2026 Report Highlights 

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

JOBS REPORT 

Private employers added 44,000 jobs in July
Sector-level hiring was choppy last month, but pay sent a clear signal. Year-over-year pay for job-changers accelerated to its fastest pace of growth in nearly a year. 

Change in U.S. Private Employment:     44,000 

Change by Industry
 

– Goods-producing:     -3,000  

• Natural resources/mining     -6,000 

• Construction     1,000 

• Manufacturing     2,000 

– Service-providing:     47,000 

• Trade/transportation/utilities     -8,000 

• Information     5,000 

• Financial activities     10,000 

• Professional/business services     9,000 

• Education/health services     36,000 

• Leisure/hospitality     -11,000 

• Other services     6,000 

Change by U.S. Regions
 

– Northeast:     37,000 

• New England     16,000 

• Mid-Atlantic     21,000 

– Midwest:     -9,000 

• East North Central     -11,000 

• West North Central     2,000 

– South:     9,000 

• South Atlantic     -8,000 

• East South Central     2,000 

• West South Central     15,000 

– West:     7,000 

• Mountain     -4,000 

• Pacific     11,000 

Change by Establishment Size
 

– Small establishments:     23,000 

• 1-19 employees     27,000 

• 20-49 employees     -4,000 

– Medium establishments:     8,000 

• 50-249 employees     2,000 

• 250-499 employees     6,000 

– Large establishments:     13,000 

• 500+ employees     13,000 

PAY INSIGHTS 

Pay growth for job-changers accelerated in July
Pay gains for job-stayers held steady at 4.4 percent last month, while pay growth for job-changers rose to 7 percent, the largest year-over-year increase since August 2025. 

Median Change in Annual Pay
 

– Job-stayers     4.4%
– Job-changers     7.0% 

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry
 

– Goods-producing: 

• Natural resources/mining     4.0% 

• Construction     4.5% 

• Manufacturing     5.0% 

– Service-providing:                        

• Trade/transportation/utilities     4.4% 

• Information     4.0% 

• Financial activities     5.2% 

• Professional/business services     4.1% 

• Education/health services     4.1% 

• Leisure/hospitality     4.4% 

• Other services     4.1% 

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

– Small firms:              

• 1-19 employees     2.4% 

• 20-49 employees     4.0% 

– Medium firms:              

• 50-249 employees     4.7% 

• 250-499 employees     4.8% 

– Large firms:              

• 500+ employees     4.8%