US adds 44,000 jobs in July

ADP said on August 5 that U.S. private employers added 44,000 jobs in July, the weakest monthly gain reported by the payroll processor so far in 2026. The report, produced with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, said annual pay rose 4.4% from a year earlier. The data added to evidence of a labor market that is still adding workers, but at a slower pace than earlier in the expansion. The Labor Department is due to publish its broader July jobs report on August 7 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. ### Why did the 44,000 figure get attention? ADP’s 44,000 reading stood out because the company’s payroll series covers more than 26 million private-sector employees and is watched as an early read on monthly hiring. ADP said the July report reflected private-sector employment only, not total nonfarm payrolls, which also include government jobs. The July number also followed softer weekly readings in ADP’s own preliminary updates. ADP’s media center said its July 28 preliminary estimate showed private employers adding an average of 15,000 jobs a week for the four weeks ending July 11. ### What does “low-hiring, low-firing” mean here? Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook used that phrase in a July 15 speech on the economic outlook. (mediacenter.adp.com) Cook said the “low-hire, low-fire environment” was hitting some groups, “such as new entrants,” particularly hard, even as jobless claims stayed low and payrolls continued to grow moderately. (mediacenter.adp.com) Indeed’s 2026 U.S. Jobs and Hiring Trends report described a similar backdrop. Indeed said demand for workers had softened while layoffs remained generally low, producing what its chief economist, Svenja Gudell, called a “low hire, low fire” environment. ### Why are recent graduates getting singled out? (federalreserve.gov) Lisa Cook said new entrants were among the groups feeling the strain from slower hiring. Her speech did not single out engineers, but it did identify first-time job seekers as especially exposed when companies are reluctant to expand headcount. Indeed said the 2026 market looked “cautious, selective, and uneven,” with postings across most sectors sliding toward pre-pandemic norms by late 2025. (indeed.com) That kind of market tends to lengthen job searches for graduates because fewer openings mean more applicants competing for each role. That is an inference from the hiring data and Cook’s remarks, not a separate government forecast. (federalreserve.gov) ### How should readers think about ADP versus the government report? The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures the labor market differently from ADP. BLS said total nonfarm payroll employment rose 57,000 in June, while the unemployment rate was 4.2%, and it noted that the Employment Situation combines a household survey with an establishment survey. (indeed.com) BLS also publishes government hiring, which ADP does not. That means Friday’s July Employment Situation could differ materially from ADP’s private-payroll estimate even if both point in the same direction on hiring momentum. (bls.gov) ### What is the next hard data point to watch? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the Employment Situation for July 2026 will be released on Friday, August 7, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The same BLS schedule shows Real Earnings for July due on August 12, which will give another read on wage growth after ADP’s reported 4.4% annual pay increase. (bls.gov) (mediacenter.adp.com)