^{Photo: Bloomberg.com}

Private sector payrolls rose by 41,000 in December, marking a rebound from November’s loss of 29,000 jobs, according to payroll processor ADP. While slightly below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 48,000, the data provides a positive signal for a labor market that had struggled through much of late 2025.

Job gains driven by services and smaller firms

December’s growth was concentrated entirely in service industries. Education and health-related sectors added 39,000 jobs, while leisure and hospitality contributed 24,000. Trade, transportation, and utilities gained 11,000, and financial services expanded by 6,000.

Professional and business services lost 29,000 positions, and information services declined by 12,000. Among goods-producing industries, manufacturing accounted for most of the 3,000-job loss.

Nearly all the hiring occurred at companies with fewer than 500 employees. Larger firms added just 2,000 positions. ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, noted, “Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back.”

Wage trends remain steady

Average annual wage growth for employees who stayed in their roles remained at 4.4%, unchanged from November. Those changing jobs saw slightly stronger gains of 6.6%, up 0.3 percentage points from the prior month.

Outlook ahead of official data

The ADP report precedes the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ nonfarm payrolls release by two days. Economists surveyed expect the official report to show 73,000 new jobs in December, up from 64,000 in November, with the unemployment rate projected to edge down to 4.5%. This will be the first on-time BLS release since the recent government shutdown, which had delayed data collection.

December’s private payroll rebound underscores the resilience of small businesses and service industries in sustaining U.S. job growth, even as larger employers remain cautious amid economic uncertainty.