Employment Data - The latest ADP report indicates an addition of +54K new private-sector jobs in August, missing expectations by 20K [1] - The four-month average for private-sector job growth is +55K, a significant decline from the previous average of +102K [2] - Large corporations added only +18K jobs, while medium-sized companies contributed +25K and small firms added +12K [3] Industry Performance - The Leisure/Hospitality sector saw the highest job growth with +50K new jobs, followed by Construction at +16K and Professional/Business Services at +15K [4] - The Trade/Transportation/Utilities sector experienced the largest decline with -17K jobs, and Education/Healthcare lost -12K jobs [4][5] Wage Trends - Job Stayers experienced an average earnings gain of +4.4%, while Job Changers saw a +7.1% increase, indicating a narrowing wage gap [6] Jobless Claims - Initial Jobless Claims rose to +237K, exceeding expectations and marking the highest monthly total since June [7] - Continuing Jobless Claims decreased to 1.940 million, remaining below the critical 2 million mark for 13 consecutive weeks [8] Productivity and Labor Costs - Q2 Productivity increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of +3.3%, the strongest quarterly productivity since Q3 2024 [9] - Unit Labor Costs for the quarter were lower than expected at +1.0%, suggesting a favorable economic environment [9] Trade Deficit - The U.S. Trade Deficit widened to -$78.3 billion in July, a significant increase from the previous month's revised figure of -$59.1 billion [10]