The U.S. labor market is flashing a rare warning sign after private sector payrolls fell in June for the first time in over two years, raising concerns about the economy’s health and increasing bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Private employers cut 33,000 jobs last month, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Thursday.
That’s a sharp drop from the downwardly revised 29,000 gain in May and far below economist forecasts for a 95,000 increase.
The last time this data showed a monthly contraction was in March 2023, coinciding with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which triggered a brief banking crisis.
The ADP report precedes the more closely watched U.S. government jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due on Thursday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to slow from 139,000 in May to …