Private-sector employers in the US added fewer jobs than economists collectively anticipated in June, Wednesday’s ADP report showed.

The headline payrolls addition was 98,000, decent, but well short of the 120,000 consensus.

The miss could temper expectations for Thursday’s “all-important” (every BLS jobs report’s “make or break” according to the click-chasing financial media) NFP print.

As the simple figure shows, the ADP headline’s now notched a gain every month for a year.

Hiring was broad-based in June. By firm size, the smallest and largest employers added the most positions (38,000 for businesses with fewer than 20 employees and 25,000 for those with 500 or more workers).

By sector, gains were led by education and health services, which isn’t surprising. Only mining shed workers. [Insert looped gif of Trump donning a hard hat and miming a generic “digger.”]

ADP chief economist Nela Richardson described the US labor market as something of an enigma currently. “We know it’s taking people longer to find work, but there are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries,” she said. “For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.”

Maybe. But even as the headline constituted a meaningful miss, 98,000’s by no means bad. Coming as it does on the heels of consecutive 100,000+ prints and considering the three-month average now exceeds 100,000 for the first time since February of 2025, it’s fair to say the “steady hiring” narrative’s intact. Pending “confirmation” from the BLS, of course.