ADP Jobs Report April 2026 Private Sector Gains
ADP jobs report April 2026 showed private-sector hiring rose 109,000 while pay growth cooled to 4.4%, a key labor read traders weigh ahead of payrolls.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- ADP reported private-sector employment rose 109,000 in April, the fastest monthly gain since January 2025.
- Annual pay growth for job-stayers slowed to 4.4% year-over-year, widening the gap with job-changers.
- Hiring concentrated at smallest and largest firms while mid-sized employers showed softness; next ADP report June 3.
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The ADP jobs report for April 2026 showed U.S. private-sector employment accelerated, surpassing economist expectations and spreading hiring across multiple sectors. Investors will weigh this data ahead of the official payrolls reading.
Private Sector Job Growth and Industry Breakdown
The ADP National Employment Report, produced with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and released on May 6, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. ET, showed private-sector employment rose by 109,000 jobs in April. This was the fastest monthly gain since January 2025 and exceeded forecasts of 99,000. March’s total was revised slightly lower to 61,000 from 62,000. The stronger-than-expected increase and the revision suggest hiring activity may be stabilizing after earlier softness.
Job gains were split between goods-producing sectors, which added 15,000 jobs, and service-providing sectors, which added 94,000. Within goods-producing, construction led with 10,000 new jobs, followed by natural resources and mining with 3,000, and manufacturing with 2,000. In services, education and health services accounted for 61,000 of the gains, representing about 65% of the service-sector increase. Trade, transportation, and utilities added 25,000 jobs; financial activities added 9,000; information and leisure/hospitality each added 4,000. Professional and business services lost 8,000 jobs, and other services declined by 1,000.
Wage Growth, Regional Trends, and Employer Size
Annual pay growth for workers who stayed in their jobs slowed to 4.4% year-over-year in April, while pay growth for job-changers remained higher at 6.6%. ADP’s chief economist, Dr. Nela Richardson, noted, "Small and large employers are hiring, but we're seeing softness in the middle." This 2.2-percentage-point gap highlights that higher wage gains remain concentrated among workers switching employers.
Hiring was concentrated at the smallest and largest firms. Establishments with fewer than 50 employees added 65,000 jobs, those with 50–499 employees added 2,000, and firms with 500 or more employees added 42,000. Regionally, the West led with 46,000 new jobs, followed by the South with 34,000, the Northeast with 18,000, and the Midwest with 11,000. This pattern aligns with ADP’s observation of uneven hiring across the private sector.
ADP will release the next National Employment Report, covering May 2026 data, on June 3, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. ET. That report will provide further insight into whether April’s combination of accelerating hires and slowing pay growth signals a sustained shift in labor market momentum.
