US ADP Employment Report September 2026

The US ADP Employment Report for August 2026 is scheduled for release on September 2, 2026 at 8:15 am ET (1:15 pm London time), published by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The report covers private-sector payroll changes and pay growth for August 2026. Full schedule and background: US ADP Employment Report.

What is the ADP Employment Report?

The ADP National Employment Report measures the monthly change in private-sector jobs in the United States. Unlike the government’s official jobs figures, it is built from anonymised payroll data covering more than 26 million employees at businesses that use ADP’s payroll systems, rather than a survey. This gives it a real-time view of hiring and firing across the economy, broken down by company size, industry and region.

Alongside the headline jobs number, ADP publishes a pay growth measure that tracks annual wage changes separately for “job-stayers” (people who keep the same employer) and “job-changers” (people who switch jobs). A widening gap between the two can signal that employers are having to pay up to attract new staff, a sign of a tight labour market, or that job-switching has become less rewarding, a sign of a cooling one.

Markets watch the release closely because it lands two days before the government’s official non-farm payrolls report on the first Friday of the month, giving traders and economists an early, if imperfect, signal of what that bigger release might show. Historically, ADP’s monthly figure has not tracked the official payrolls number with great precision, so investors treat it as a directional guide rather than a firm prediction.

When is the August ADP employment report released?

ADP has confirmed that the August 2026 National Employment Report will be published on September 2, 2026 at 8:15 am ET (1:15 pm London time), according to ADP’s own press materials. ADP typically releases its monthly report on the Wednesday two business days before the US government’s non-farm payrolls report, though the exact date can shift around holidays such as Labor Day. This page reflects the currently scheduled date; readers should treat the timing as ADP’s usual pattern unless the company issues a change.

The report is published on ADP’s own newsroom and research site, and is picked up immediately by financial data providers and news wires.

What is the consensus forecast?

As of publication, a consensus forecast for the August 2026 ADP report has not yet been published. Economist surveys for ADP releases are typically compiled by Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones in the days immediately before release, so a forecast is likely to appear closer to September 2, 2026.

The most recent published reading is for July 2026. Private-sector employment rose by 44,000 jobs, well below the 68,000 to 70,000 gain that economists polled by Dow Jones and Reuters had expected, according to ADP’s July release. Annual pay growth for job-stayers held at 4.4% year-on-year, while pay growth for job-changers accelerated to 7.0%.

What the result could mean

These are possible market reactions, not predictions. ADP’s monthly figure has at times diverged sharply from the official non-farm payrolls number, so any single reading is treated with caution by economists.

Why does this release matter right now?

Private-sector hiring has slowed markedly through 2026. ADP reported gains of 63,000 in February, 62,000 in March, 109,000 in April and 122,000 in May, before hiring cooled sharply to 98,000 in June (later revised to 95,000) and then to just 44,000 in July, according to ADP’s own releases. ADP’s weekly “NER Pulse” data, which tracks employment on a four-week rolling basis, showed a pickup to roughly 9,500 jobs added per week in the four weeks to August 1, 2026, following several weeks of decline, according to ADP Research.

The Federal Reserve has repeatedly said it is watching labour market data closely as it weighs the pace of any further interest rate moves, alongside inflation figures. A weak reading in the ADP report, followed by a soft official payrolls number, tends to strengthen market expectations for rate cuts, while stronger figures can push those expectations back. Wage growth data also matters for the inflation outlook, since persistent strong pay gains for job-switchers can signal continued upward pressure on labour costs.

What It Means for Your Money

• Mortgages and loan rates: Weaker-than-expected hiring figures tend to increase bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which can feed through to lower mortgage and borrowing rates in the US over time, and can also influence sentiment in UK and eurozone bond markets given how closely global rate expectations are linked.
• Savings: If the jobs data supports further rate cuts, savers holding cash in interest-bearing accounts may eventually see lower returns as central banks ease policy.
• Jobs and wages: A slowdown in private hiring, as seen through 2026, can mean fewer job openings and slower wage growth for workers changing jobs, though ADP data suggests pay for job-stayers has remained fairly stable.
• Investments and pensions: Equity markets often react to jobs data because it shapes expectations for interest rates, which affect company borrowing costs and valuations. A much weaker or stronger than expected reading can move US stock indices and, through global market linkages, indices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
• Currencies: A weak US jobs signal can weigh on the dollar if it strengthens expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, which in turn can support the value of the pound and the euro against the dollar, all else being equal.

Related events

• US non-farm payrolls report, typically released the first Friday of each month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, which weigh labour market data alongside inflation figures.
• US weekly jobless claims data, released every Thursday by the Department of Labor.

Frequently Asked Questions

What time is the August ADP employment report released?

It is scheduled for 8:15 am ET, which is 1:15 pm London time, on September 2, 2026.

How should I read the ADP employment number?

Focus on the direction of the change in private payrolls and the trend over recent months, rather than the single monthly figure, since it can be volatile and does not always match the official government jobs report.

How does this report affect interest rate expectations?

Weaker-than-expected job gains can increase market bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, while stronger figures can reduce them, though the Fed weighs many other data points too.

Where can I find the official ADP release?

The report is published on ADP’s own newsroom and on the ADP Research website, and is also carried immediately by major financial data providers.

When is the next ADP employment report?

ADP typically releases its report on the first Wednesday of each month, two business days before the official non-farm payrolls report, so the next release is expected in early October 2026.

Results: US ADP Employment Report, August 2026

US private-sector employment rose by 38,000 jobs in August 2026, according to the ADP National Employment Report, missing the 48,000 gain forecast by economists polled by Reuters and coming in below July’s upwardly revised figure of 46,000 jobs. The reading confirms the “below consensus” scenario flagged in ADP’s preview, extending a run of soft private hiring figures through the summer of 2026.

ADP’s chief economist Nela Richardson said pay data offers insight into today’s uneven hiring, noting that “pay can tell us a lot about today’s choppy hiring”. Vanguard senior economist Adam Schickling said the softer labour market this summer follows a stronger spring, according to Fox Business. The report was published, as usual, two days ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ non-farm payrolls report for August, due on Friday, which remains the more closely watched government measure of the labour market.

Market Reaction

Treasury yields eased modestly and the dollar softened against the pound and the euro after the release, as traders leaned further into expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, according to Reuters. The reaction was measured rather than dramatic, reflecting the market’s long-standing caution about treating any single ADP print as a reliable forecast of Friday’s official payrolls figure.

US equity index futures showed only a limited move immediately after the 8:15 am ET release, with investors largely holding positions ahead of the more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report. In Europe and Asia, the weaker US print added modestly to a narrative of a cooling US labour market that has, over recent months, supported gilts and eurozone government bonds as global rate expectations have shifted lower.

What this means for your money now

A fourth consecutive soft private payrolls reading keeps alive the possibility of further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which could eventually feed through to lower US mortgage and borrowing costs, with knock-on effects for global bond markets including UK gilts. Savers holding cash may see returns drift lower over time if this trend continues, though the ADP figure alone is unlikely to shift central bank decisions without confirmation from Friday’s official jobs report.