"Private payrolls rose by just 22,000 in January, far short of expectations, ADP says"

 From CNBC, February 4:

• Private companies added just 22,000 positions for January. The total was less than the downwardly revised 37,000 increase in December and below the consensus forecast for 45,000.
• The report starts 2026 off on basically the same note where 2025 ended: A lackluster job market in a low-hire, low-fire environment.

The U.S. labor market barely budged in January, with hiring below even muted expectations, according to a report Wednesday from payrolls processing firm ADP.

Private companies added just 22,000 positions for the month and the number would have been negative had it not been for a surge of 74,000 hires in the education and health services category. The total was less than the downwardly revised 37,000 increase in December and below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 45,000.

The report starts 2026 off on basically the same note where 2025 ended: A lackluster job market in a low-hire, low-fire environment that likely will do little to quell fears from Federal Reserve policymakers that more support may be needed.

Outside of the health care-related jobs, the primary driver behind employment growth last year, financial activities added 14,000 positions while construction rose by 9,000 and both the trade, transportation and utilities and the leisure and hospitality industries contributed 4,000.

However, several sectors reported losses.

Professional and business services tumbled 57,000, the other services category lost 13,000 and manufacturing was down 8,000. All but 1,000 net jobs came from the services sector....

....MORE 

Very related though Non-farm payrolls rather than ADP, January 12:

Citadel On The Labor Market

Our comment following January 9's jobs report was just a throwaway line focusing on the reader's peace of mind:

"US Adds Only 50K Jobs In December, Missing Estimates, But Unemployment Rate Drops To 4.4%"
This is not the 2019 job market and unless your expectations are ratcheted down, reality will continue to mess with your olden-times 150,000 per month mental anchoring, troubling the bliss you deserve and are otherwise moving toward....

Our thinking is that the breakeven number is down to around ~50,000 per month.

Here, Citadel thinks it might be even lower:.... 

And January 15 - World's Largest Employment Recruiter Says AI Is Wiping Out Entry-Level Office Roles For New Graduates: 'Path That Used To Work For A Long Time Is Starting To Break'

Well that's rather sobering coming from someone who has a clearer view of the white-collar job market than just about anyone I can think of....