Private businesses in the US shed 33K jobs in June 2025, the first decline since March 2023, compared to a downwardly revised 29K in May and well below forecasts of an employment gain of 95K. The service-producing sector lost 66K jobs, due to professional/business services (-56K), education/health (-52K) and financial activities (-14K). On the other hand, jobs were added in leisure/hospitality (32K), trade/transportation/utilities (14K) and information (5K). The goods-producing sector also added 32K jobs: 15K in manufacturing, 9K in construction and 8K in natural resources/mining. Meanwhile, annual pay growth for job-stayers edged down to 4.4% in June from 4.5% in May. Pay growth for job-changers was 6.8% in June, down slightly from 7%. "Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month. Still, the slowdown in hiring has yet to disrupt pay growth", said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP.