U.S. private payroll growth slows in June as planned layoffs fall sharply

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US payroll growth, layoffs June

Highlights

ADP National Employment Report shows U.S. private payrolls increase by 98,000 in June, missing Reuters poll expectations of 118,000.
Challenger, Gray and Christmas report planned U.S. layoffs drop 53% to 45,849 in June, with first-half job cuts falling 40% year over year.
Employers announce plans to hire 10,933 workers in June, down 44% from May, as hiring remains below 2020–2024 levels despite a slight year-to-date increase.

June hiring data and payroll expectations

As reported by Reuters, private employment rises by 98,000 jobs in June after an unrevised increase of 122,000 in May, according to the ADP National Employment Report developed jointly with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Economists polled by Reuters expect a gain of 118,000, leaving the latest reading below forecasts.

The ADP report is published before the Bureau of Labor Statistics' June employment report due on Thursday, though ADP has been a poor guide to the government's private payrolls estimate. A Reuters survey of economists points to a 110,000 increase in private payrolls in June after a 120,000 gain in May, while total nonfarm payrolls are forecast to rise by 110,000 after increasing 172,000 in May.

Economists also expect the unemployment rate to hold at 4.3% for a fourth straight month. The labor market stabilizes after stumbling last year, and government data released on Tuesday shows there are 1.04 job openings for every unemployed person in May.

Layoff trends signal labor market stability

A separate report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas shows planned layoffs by U.S.-based employers fall 53% to 45,849 in June. Employers announce 443,604 job cuts in the first half of the year, down 40% from the same period last year.

Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, says the pace of layoffs cools considerably in June, in line with patterns typically seen in summer months. He adds that job cuts remain concentrated in technology, while artificial intelligence continues to reshape how companies assess headcount.

Employers announce plans to hire 10,933 workers in June, down 44% from May. So far this year, companies announce 91,405 planned hires, up 10% from the first half of 2025, though Challenger says hiring remains well below levels seen since 2020, making it harder for unemployed workers to find new opportunities.

A Conference Board survey released on Tuesday also shows the share of consumers who view jobs as hard to get rises in June to the highest level in nearly 5-1/2 years.

Our earlier article on the emerging “mom-cession” described how college-educated mothers with children under 5 are seeing declining labor force participation and higher unemployment compared with other groups. We noted that fewer fully remote roles, return-to-office mandates, and persistent childcare shortages are reducing flexibility and making it harder for many mothers to stay in or re-enter the workforce.

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