Small businesses in the United States cut 120,000 jobs in November, driving a wider-than-expected contraction in private-sector employment, according to payroll processor ADP. The report showed private employers overall shed 32,000 positions during the month, despite economists surveyed by Dow Jones forecasting an increase of 40,000.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson described the downturn as a “broad-based slowdown” led by sharp pullbacks among firms with fewer than 50 employees. She said these small enterprises were “weathering an uncertain macro environment and a cautious consumer,” noting that larger firms still posted net gains.
The job losses highlight the financial strain facing smaller employers, which have fewer buffers to absorb higher operating costs arising from tariffs, energy prices and broader economic pressures. The Main Street Alliance, a network representing 30,000 small-business owners, told NBC News that the data reflected the cumulative impact of what it characterised as “Trump-era and Republican economic policies,” citing trade disputes, healthcare cost pressures and tax changes that favoured larger corporations.
Medium- and large-sized businesses added positions in November, but at a slower pace than earlier this year. The report showed professional and business services, manufacturing and information industries were among the hardest hit. Natural resources and mining was one of the few bright spots, adding 8,000 jobs. Richardson linked the gains to rising investment in data centres, which she said were “resource intensive” and part of a broader infrastructure buildout fuelled by technology and artificial intelligence companies.
The ADP figures emerge as a government data blackout triggered by the federal shutdown nears its end. The next official US employment report is not expected until mid-December, leaving the Federal Reserve without key labour and inflation data ahead of its rate-setting meeting on 9–10 December. Recent federal reports have already indicated an uneven labour market, with job losses in June and August and modest gains in July and September.
ADP’s own data series has shown similar volatility, with private-sector payrolls contracting in four of the past six months. Richardson said hiring momentum was cooling in line with declining pay growth, with wages for job stayers rising 4.4 per cent year-on-year in November, down from 4.5 per cent in October.
While ADP’s survey provides an early view of employment conditions, economists note that it covers only part of the private workforce and often diverges from the official jobs report produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pattern of losses, however, is likely to deepen concerns about weakening labour demand and the widening strain on smaller employers.