Private sector employment in the United States grew by 41,000 jobs in December 2025, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report produced in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. This increase reflects a rebound in hiring, particularly driven by education and health services as well as leisure and hospitality sectors.
The ADP National Employment Report, derived from anonymized payroll data of over 26 million U.S. private-sector employees, indicates a positive shift in private sector employment for December 2025. "Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back," said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP.
Hiring rebounded across several key industries, offsetting losses in others and contributing to the overall addition of 41,000 private sector jobs.
Service-providing industries fueled the majority of job gains, adding 44,000 positions, while goods-producing sectors experienced a slight decline of 3,000 jobs. Standout performers included education/health services with 39,000 new jobs and leisure/hospitality with 24,000. In contrast, professional/business services saw a notable drop of 29,000 jobs, and information services lost 12,000.
Regionally, the South led with 54,000 jobs added, followed by the Northeast at 40,000. The Midwest gained 9,000 jobs, but the West region recorded a sharp decline of 61,000 private sector jobs.
By establishment size, medium establishments contributed the most with 34,000 jobs, followed by small establishments at 9,000, and large establishments adding just 2,000.
ADP Pay Insights, based on over 15 million individual pay observations monthly, showed year-over-year pay growth for job-stayers remaining unchanged at 4.4% in December 2025. Job-changers experienced accelerated pay growth, rising to 6.6% from 6.3% the previous month.
Across industries, manufacturing led job-stayer pay growth at 4.8%, followed by financial activities at 5.2%. Larger firms continued to offer higher median pay increases, with those employing 500+ workers at 4.8%.
The December 2025 private sector employment data signals resilience in certain sectors amid varied regional and industry performances, supported by steady wage growth for ongoing employees.
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