MW ADP says businesses cut jobs for third time in four month as labor market weakens

By Jeffry Bartash

Government shutdown leaves ADP as the only game in town on health of U.S. jobs market

The U.S. jobs market is standing still - not a good sign for anyone looking for work.

Privately run businesses cut an estimated 34,000 jobs in September and employment fell for the third time in four months, ADP said, in another sign of emerging weakness in the labor market that alarmed the Federal Reserve enough to cut interest rates last month.

The ADP employment report is likely to be the only one investors see this week after a government shutdown began at midnight.

The official U.S. jobs report produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to be delayed until a contentious budget dispute in Washington is resolved.

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had forecast 45,000 new private-sector jobs.

ADP is historically a poor predictor of the official U.S. jobs report that follows a few days later. Yet this year ADP was quicker to detect a big dropoff in hiring in the spring after the Trump administration launched the biggest trade wars in decades.

-Jeffry Bartash

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 01, 2025 08:22 ET (12:22 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.