Private Sector Employment Increased by 62,000 Jobs in April; Annual Pay was Up 4.5%

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Thursday, May 1st, 2025

Private sector employment increased by 62,000 jobs in April and annual pay was up 4.5 percent year-over-year, according to the April ADP® National Employment Report™ produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab ("Stanford Lab"). The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on actual, anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees.

"Unease is the word of the day. Employers are trying to reconcile policy and consumer uncertainty with a run of mostly positive economic data," said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "It can be difficult to make hiring decisions in such an environment."

April 2025 Report Highlights*

View the ADP National Employment Report and interactive charts at www.adpemploymentreport.com.

JOBS REPORT

Private employers added 62,000 jobs in April
Education and health services, information, and professional and business services lost jobs, while hiring in other sectors was moderate.

Change in U.S. Private Employment:     62,000

Change by Industry Sector 

Goods-producing:     26,000

  • Natural resources/mining     6,000

  • Construction     16,000

  • Manufacturing     4,000

Service-providing:     34,000

  • Trade/transportation/utilities     21,000

  • Information     -8,000

  • Financial activities     20,000

  • Professional/business services     -2,000

  • Education/health services     -23,000

  • Leisure/hospitality     27,000

  • Other services     -1,000

Change by U.S. Regions

Northeast:     10,000

  • New England     -33,000

  • Middle Atlantic     43,000

Midwest:     42,000

  • East North Central     39,000

  • West North Central     3,000

South:     3,000

  • South Atlantic     -8,000

  • East South Central     54,000

  • West South Central     -43,000

West:     9,000

  • Mountain     8,000

  • Pacific     1,000

Change by Establishment Size

Small establishments:     11,000

  • 1-19 employees     20,000

  • 20-49 employees     -9,000

Medium establishments:     40,000

  • 50-249 employees     21,000

  • 250-499 employees     19,000

Large establishments:     12,000

  • 500+ employees     12,000

PAY INSIGHTS

Pay gains were steady in April
Pay for job-stayers rose 4.5 percent in April from a year earlier, a slight deceleration from March. Year-over-year pay gains for job-changers accelerated, rising from 6.7 percent in March to 6.9 percent in April.

Median Change in Annual Pay (ADP matched person sample)

Job-Stayers     4.5%
- Job-Changers     6.9%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry Sector

Goods-producing:                                                       

  • Natural resources/mining     4.4%
  • Construction     4.7%
  • Manufacturing     4.6%

Service-providing:                                               

  • Trade/transportation/utilities     4.3%
  • Information     4.1%
  • Financial activities     5.1%
  • Professional/business services     4.3%
  • Education/health services     4.7%
  • Leisure/hospitality     4.7%
  • Other services     4.3%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Firm Size

Small firms:                                                                

  • 1-19 employees     2.8%
  • 20-49 employees     4.2%

Medium firms:                                                             

  • 50-249 employees     4.8%
  • 250-499 employees     4.9%

Large firms:                                                                

  • 500+ employees     4.8%

To see Pay Insights by U.S. State, Gender, and Age for Job-Stayers, visit here.

* Sum of components may not equal total due to rounding.

The March total number of jobs added was revised from 155,000 to 147,000. The historical data file and weekly data for the previous month are available at https://adpemploymentreport.com/.

To subscribe to monthly email alerts or obtain additional information about the ADP National Employment Report, including employment and pay data, interactive charts, methodology, and a calendar of release dates, please visit https://adpemploymentreport.com/.    

The May 2025 ADP National Employment Report will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET on June 4, 2025.