Economy lost jobs for the first time since 2023, according to the ADP
- Alexangel Ventura
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
According to the ADP Media Center, the U.S. economy has shed jobs for the first time in two years, reflecting a dynamic economic environment as a result of trade wars.
The ADP Media Center, jointly developed with the Digital Economic Lab of Stanford University, reported on Wednesday that the private sector shed a total of 33,000 jobs in the month of June, the first monthly decline since 2023. ADP attributes this marginal decline to job losses in professional and business services, education, and health services. Meanwhile, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing jobs grew but by not a large enough margin to circumvent the decline of other jobs.
The southern U.S. saw a rise in jobs by 13,000, while the West lost 20,000 jobs, the Midwest lost 24,000 jobs, and the Northeast lost 3,000 jobs.
14,000 jobs were lost in financial activities, 56,000 jobs were lost in professional/business services, and 52,000 jobs were lost in education/health services. In total service jobs saw the largest decline while goods-producing saw a small uptick of roughly 32,000 jobs total.
The last decline was in March 2023, more than two years ago from today. And then, inflation reached a near peak which caused employers to have to lay off workers to keep up with rising expenses.
Even worse, economists previously expected a net gain in private sector jobs by 95,000. This over 120,000-job difference was certainly jaw-dropping for many.
"Use ADP only to gauge the big picture," responded chief economist at High Frequency Economics Carl Weinberg to these statistics. "Right now, that picture shows ADP’s private sector employment estimates declining steadily since December. Today’s big drop underscores that decaying trend."
Although the labor market has not collapsed (yet), this news must still be looked at carefully, as again it marks the last negative shift in job growth in two years. Many economists have attributed this decline to uncertainty amid trade wars as tensions with certain trade partners continue, and President Trump brought back new tariff threats, like with Japan.
Today, markets reached all-time highs, however certain investors have warned that because of these results as well as oversaturation, stocks may be at risk of a selloff.
