ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 164,000 Jobs in December; Annual Pay was Up 5.4%

News provided by

Jan 04, 2024, 08:15 ET

ROSELAND, N.J., Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Private sector employment increased by 164,000 jobs in December and annual pay was up 5.4 percent year-over-year, according to the December ADP^® National Employment Report^TM produced by the ADP Research Institute^® in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab ("Stanford Lab"). The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on actual, anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees.

ADP Research Institute, logo (PRNewsfoto/ADP, Inc.)

The jobs report and pay insights use ADP's fine-grained anonymized and aggregated payroll data to provide a representative picture of the private-sector labor market. The report details the current month's total private employment change, and weekly job data from the previous month. Because the underlying ADP payroll databases are continuously updated, the report provides a high-frequency, near real-time measure of U.S. employment. This measure reflects the number of employees on ADP client payrolls (Payroll Employment) to provide a richer understanding of the labor market. ADP's pay measure uniquely captures the earnings of a cohort of almost 10 million employees over a 12-month period.

"We're returning to a labor market that's very much aligned with pre-pandemic hiring," said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "While wages didn't drive the recent bout of inflation, now that pay growth has retreated, any risk of a wage-price spiral has all but disappeared."

December 2023 Report Highlights*

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

JOBS REPORT

Private employers added 164,000 jobs in December
Job gains rose for the fourth straight month, led by a healthy bump in leisure and hospitality hiring. Construction held strong in the face of high interest rates, but manufacturing continued to struggle, notching another month of losses.

Change in U.S. Private Employment: 164,000

Change by Industry Sector

- Goods-producing: 9,000

Natural resources/mining -2,000
Construction 24,000
Manufacturing -13,000

- Service-providing: 155,000

Trade/transportation/utilities 15,000
Information -2,000
Financial activities 18,000
Professional/business services 1,000
Education/health services 42,000
Leisure/hospitality 59,000
Other services 22,000

Change by U.S. Regions

- Northeast: 94,000

New England 28,000
Middle Atlantic 66,000

- Midwest: -21,000

East North Central -16,000
West North Central -5,000

- South: -7,000

South Atlantic -3,000
East South Central -6,000
West South Central 2,000

- West: 109,000

Mountain 29,000
Pacific 80,000

Change by Establishment Size

- Small establishments: 74,000

1-19 employees 54,000
20-49 employees 20,000

- Medium establishments: 53,000

50-249 employees 58,000
250-499 employees -5,000

- Large establishments: 40,000

500+ employees 40,000

PAY INSIGHTS

Pay growth slowed in December
Pay for job-stayers rose 5.4 percent in December, slowing from 5.6 percent a month earlier and continuing a deceleration that began in September 2022.

Median Change in Annual Pay (ADP matched person sample)

- Job-Stayers 5.4%

- Job-Changers 8.0%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry Sector

- Goods-producing:

Natural resources/mining 4.9%
Construction 6.0%
Manufacturing 5.1%

- Service-providing:

Trade/transportation/utilities 5.2%
Information 4.8%
Financial activities 5.9%
Professional/business services 5.2%
Education/health services 5.9%
Leisure/hospitality 6.4%
Other services 5.6%

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

- Small firms:

1-19 employees 4.6%
20-49 employees 5.6%

- Medium firms:

50-249 employees 5.7%
250-499 employees 5.5%

- Large firms:

500+ employees 5.4%

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

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

The November total of jobs added was revised from 103,000 to 101,000. The historical data file, and weekly data for the previous month, is available at https://adpemploymentreport.com/.

To subscribe to monthly email alerts or obtain additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including employment and pay data, interactive charts, methodology, and a calendar of release dates, please visit https://adpemploymentreport.com/.

The January 2024 ADP National Employment Report will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET on January 31, 2024.

About the ADP® National Employment Report^TMThe ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure of the change in U.S. private employment and pay derived from actual, anonymized payroll data of client companies served by ADP, a leading provider of human capital management solutions. The report is produced by ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

The ADP National Employment Report is broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, as part of the company's commitment to offering deeper insights of the U.S. labor market and providing businesses and governments with a source of credible and valuable information.

About the ADP Research Institute®
The ADP Research Institute delivers data-driven discoveries about the world of work and derives reliable economic indicators from these insights. We offer these findings as a unique contribution to making the world of work better and more productive by delivering actionable insights to the economy at large.

About ADP (NASDAQ – ADP)
Designing better ways to work through cutting-edge products, premium services and exceptional experiences that enable people to reach their full potential. HR, Talent, Time Management, Benefits and Payroll. Informed by data and designed for people. Learn more at ADP.com

ADP, the ADP logo, and Always Designing for People, ADP National Employment Report, and ADP Research Institute are registered trademarks of ADP, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

ADP-Media

SOURCE ADP, Inc.