Stock market today: Dow rallies, while S&P 500, Nasdaq fall with AI worries in focus ahead of Google earnings
US private employers added 22,000 jobs in January, according to data released by ADP, falling far below analyst estimates of 45,000 jobs added.
The reading on private payrolls, released Wednesday morning by ADP, fell short of all economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg, a potential sign of a still-cooling labor market. January’s additions also fell short of December’s additions of 41,000.
US economists at Deutsche Bank noted in a report Wednesday morning that January “tends to be the largest net job loss month as seasonal hiring ahead of the holidays unwinds.”
The healthcare sector was a standout for January job growth, ADP said, adding 74,000 jobs, while manufacturing continued its slowdown, shedding private payrolls every month since March 2024.
“Job creation took a step back in 2025, with private employers adding 398,000 jobs, down from 771,000 in 2024,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement. “While we’ve seen a continuous and dramatic slowdown in job creation for the past three years, wage growth has remained stable.”
Under normal circumstances, the market would have gotten a wider reading on the state of the labor market in the federal government’s usual jobs report on Friday. However, the BLS has said that the report’s release will be delayed due to the partial government shutdown, which ended on Tuesday.
That means that the week’s private data releases — from ADP on Wednesday and from the job outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas with layoffs announcements on Thursday — will take on increased importance as investors search for a read on labor.