Private employers in November reversed October job gains that had marked the largest addition to private payrolls since July, according to jobs data released Wednesday.

The ADP National Employment Report, a measure of private sector employment in the U.S., showed private payrolls cut 32,000 jobs last month after adding an upwardly revised 47,000 in October.

“Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, a payroll processing firm.

ADP derives its monthly employment report, which has garnered increased relevance because of delays in federal data reporting caused by the government shutdown, from weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees, the company says.

Consumer attitudes about the health of the U.S. economy, particularly as it concerns the state of their personal finances, fell in November to levels 30% lower than those observed a year ago, according to a closely watched survey published by the University of Michigan.

While November’s job cuts were broad-based, Richardson noted, “it was led by a pullback among small businesses,” she said.

Concentrated cuts

Small employers, defined as those with fewer than 50 employees, shed a combined 120,000 positions in November. Medium-size employers (50 to 500 employees) added 51,000 jobs, while large employers with more than 500 employees added 39,000.

Job losses were further concentrated along the Eastern Seaboard. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic census divisions lost 50,000, 49,000 and 78,000 jobs, respectively, while the other six census divisions observed net job gains over the month.

Hiring in November was especially weak in manufacturing, professional and business services, information, and construction, the ADP report indicates.

Goods-producing industries shed a net 19,000 jobs while the service-providing sector lost a net 13,000 jobs. Education and health service providers added 33,000 jobs while leisure and hospitality sectors added 13,000 jobs.

A delayed release of the Employment Situation jobs report for September, typically published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), showed nonfarm payrolls added 119,000 jobs in September, though the national unemployment rate rose to 4.4%.

Included in the September jobs report were revisions to government estimates of August employment conditions, which reversed 22,000 job gains to a net loss of 4,000 jobs.

Revisions to prior ADP reports show 29,000 jobs were shed from private payrolls in September, following 3,000 private-sector job losses in August, job gains of 106,000 in July and job losses of 23,000 in June. ADP previously estimated 54,000 job gains in August.

Fed outlook

With job creation faltering through much of 2025 and inflation near 3% still well above the Federal Reserve’s stated 2% target, central bank policymakers will confront a gnarly interest rate decision when convening next week for their final policy meeting of the year.

Policymakers voted to reduce the federal funds rate by 0.25% to its current range of 3.75% to 4% at their previous meeting in late October, down from a range of 5.25% to 5.5% in late 2023.

However, economic conditions leading the Fed to prioritize job markets over rising inflation for the second consecutive meeting has generated what Fed Chair Jerome Powell described as “strongly differing views” between Fed members concerning additional cuts.

The BLS announced it will release a November jobs report on Dec. 16 but said it will not be publishing an October jobs report, making its September snapshot the last government employment report for Fed members to digest before meeting on Dec. 9 and 10.