ADP Employment Report: 41,000 Jobs Added, Primarily in Mid-Sized Firms. Small Businesses See First Payroll Increase in Five Months

December Sees 41,000 Private Sector Jobs Added, Led by Mid-Sized Companies

In December, private businesses expanded their workforce by 41,000 positions, rebounding from a decline in November. The majority of these new roles—34,000—were created by companies employing between 50 and 499 people. Small businesses contributed 9,000 jobs, while large organizations increased their payrolls by 2,000, according to today’s ADP National Employment Report, which analyzes payroll data from its clients.

The average job growth over the past three months, illustrated by the blue line in the accompanying chart, climbed back to around 20,000 after dipping into negative territory in November for the first time since August 2020. The decreases seen in August and September were attributed to the annual recalibration for the previous 12 months.