• U.S. private employers added an average of 16,250 jobs per week in the four weeks ended November 29, 2025, marking a shift from earlier weekly losses.
  • The full-month ADP (ADP) National Employment Report for November shows private employers shed 32,000 jobs overall, with small businesses driving much of the weakness.
  • Wage growth continued to decelerate, with pay for job-stayers rising 4.4% year-over-year in November, down from previous months.

ADP’s latest high-frequency data indicates a tentative rebound in U.S. private hiring heading into year-end, but the broader picture remains one of a cooling labor market. According to the payroll processor’s NER Pulse estimates, private employers added an average of 16,250 jobs per week over the four weeks ended November 29, a notable improvement after four consecutive weeks of losses earlier in the fall. The firm noted that “continued strengthening during the second half of November” suggests potential renewed hiring momentum, though the figures are preliminary and subject to revision.

Yet the full-month ADP National Employment Report for November tells a different story. Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November, with hiring described as “flat” in the second half of 2025. The divergence highlights the choppy nature of recent labor market data, where weekly gains can mask underlying monthly weakness. ADP, which processes payrolls for more than 26 million U.S. private-sector workers, attributed the softness to cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Small businesses have been a particular drag, losing 120,000 jobs in November according to the full-month report, while medium and large firms added jobs. This marks a reversal from earlier in 2025, when small establishments were comparatively more resilient. “Without a sustained pickup in small-business hiring, the labor market’s recovery will remain fragile,” said one economist familiar with ADP’s data, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Efforts to reach ADP for additional comment on the discrepancy between weekly and monthly figures were unsuccessful by press time.

Wage trends added to the mixed signals. Pay growth for job-stayers slowed to 4.4% year-over-year in November, down from 4.6% in October, while pay for job-changers decelerated to 6.3%. The continued moderation in wage inflation could ease pressure on the Federal Reserve as it monitors labor-market tightness, but it also suggests workers are losing bargaining power amid softer hiring.

Regionally, the full-month data showed sizable declines in the Northeast and South, partly offset by gains in the Midwest and West. Sector-wise, losses were concentrated in goods-producing industries like manufacturing and construction, as well as service sectors such as professional and business services and information. The late-November weekly improvement, if sustained, could signal a turning point, but many analysts view it as tentative rather than decisive given the broader monthly weakness.

ADP’s reports, produced in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, serve as a high-frequency complement to official government data, often influencing market expectations and policy debates. The latest figures will likely fuel discussions on interest rates, fiscal support, and small-business policy ahead of the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting. For now, the labor market appears to be in a holding pattern—cooling but not collapsing, with flickers of stabilization that have yet to translate into consistent growth.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the year-over-year pay growth for job-changers in November. It was 6.3%, not 6.5%.