ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Shed 32,000 Jobs in September; Annual Pay was Up 4.5%

ROSELAND, N.J., Oct. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Private sector employment shed 32,000 jobs in September and pay was up 4.5 percent year-over-year according to the September 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 nearly 14.8 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.

“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 Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP.

September 2025 Report Highlights

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

JOBS REPORT

Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in September
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.

Change in U.S. Private Employment:     -32,000

Change by Industry

– Goods-producing:     -3,000

• Natural resources/mining     4,000
• Construction     -5,000
• Manufacturing     -2,000

– Service-providing:     -28,000

• Trade/transportation/utilities     -7,000
• Information     3,000
• Financial activities     -9,000
• Professional/business services     -13,000
• Education/health services     33,000
• Leisure/hospitality     -19,000
• Other services     -16,000

Change by U.S. Regions

– Northeast:     21,000

• New England     2,000
• Mid-Atlantic     19,000

– Midwest:     -63,000

• East North Central     -67,000
• West North Central     4,000

– South:     3,000

• South Atlantic     5,000
• East South Central     -18,000
• West South Central     16,000

– West:     15,000

• Mountain     -6,000
• Pacific     21,000

Change by Establishment Size

– Small establishments:     -40,000

• 1-19 employees     -19,000
• 20-49 employees     -21,000

– Medium establishments:     -20,000

• 50-249 employees     -11,000
• 250-499 employees     -9,000

– Large establishments:     33,000

• 500+ employees     33,000

PAY INSIGHTS

September pay gains were steady for job-stayers
Year-over-year pay growth for job-stayers was little changed in September at 4.5 percent. Pay gains for job-changers slowed to 6.6 percent from 7.1 percent in August, led by leisure and hospitality and financial activities.

Median Change in Annual Pay

– Job-stayers     4.5%

– Job-changers     6.6%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry

– Goods-producing:                                                    

• Natural resources/mining     4.3%
• Construction     4.5%
• Manufacturing     4.7%

– Service-providing:                                               

• Trade/transportation/utilities     4.3%
• Information     4.3%
• Financial activities     5.2%
• Professional/business services     4.2%
• Education/health services     4.4%
• Leisure/hospitality     4.5%
• Other services     4.1%

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

– Small firms:                                                                

• 1-19 employees     2.7%
• 20-49 employees     4.0%

– Medium firms:                                                             

• 50-249 employees     4.7%
• 250-499 employees     4.8%

– Large firms:                                                                

• 500+ employees     4.8%

To see Pay Insights by U.S. State, Gender, and Age for Job-Stayers, visit here:

Statement on September Preliminary Benchmark
In September, ADP conducted a preliminary rebenchmarking of the National  Employment Report based on full-year 2024 results from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This recalibration resulted in a reduction of 43,000 jobs in the September 2025 ADP National Employment Report. The number of jobs created in August 2025 was revised from 54,000 to -3,000.

ADP’s full-year benchmarking will take place in February 2026 with the publication of the January 2026 National Employment Report.

Note: The most recent release of the QCEW contained a higher-than-normal number of missing or redacted values for establishment size by NAICS sector and geography subgroups. This required the benchmark to be calculated at a coarser granularity than in previous years.

For additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including historical files, employment and pay data, methodology, and a calendar of release dates, please visit https://adpemploymentreport.com/.    

The October 2025 ADP National Employment Report will be released on November 5, 2025 at 8:15 a.m. ET.

About ADP Research 
The mission of ADP Research is to make the future of work more productive through data-driven discovery. Companies, workers, and policy makers rely on our finely tuned data and unique perspective to make informed decisions that impact workplaces around the world.

To subscribe to monthly email alerts or obtain additional information about ADP Research, including employment and pay data, methodology, and a calendar of release dates, please visit https://www.adpresearch.com.

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