Private payrolls saw their biggest decline in 2½ years during September, a further sign of labor market weakening that compounds the data blackout accompanying the U.S. government shutdown.

Companies shed a seasonally adjusted 32,000 jobs during the month, the biggest slide since March 2023, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 45,000.

In addition to the drop in September, the August payrolls number was revised to a loss of 3,000 from an initially reported increase of 54,000.

The report comes as the funding impasse in Washington, D.C. , has led to the first government closure since late 2018 into early 2019. Failing a deal over the next two days, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payrolls report for

See Full Page