US private employment rose by just 22k in January, according to the ADP report, well below expectations of 48k increase.
Job gains were concentrated in service-providing industries, which added 21k positions, while goods-producing sectors contributed just 1k. By firm size, medium-sized businesses drove employment growth with 41k new jobs, while large employers shed -18k positions and small establishments saw no net change, pointing to uneven demand for labor.
Wage growth, however, remained resilient. Pay for job-stayers rose 4.5% yoy, little changed from prior months. Job-changer wage growth slowed modestly from 6.6% yoy to 6.4%.
As Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, noted, job creation has slowed sharply over the past three years, but wage growth has remained stable—highlighting a labor market that is cooling through hiring rather than pay compression.
