US: Private sector employment rises 324,000 in July vs. 189,000 expected

Employment in the US private sector rose sharply again in July.
June’s surge was revised modestly lower to 455,000.
US Dollar Index claims to fresh daily highs above 102.30.

Matías Salord FXStreet

Private sector employment in the US rose by 324,000 in July, the data published by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) showed on Wednesday. This reading surpassed the market expectation for an increase of 189,000. June's figure was revised lower from 497,000 (the highest since February 2022) to 455,000.

“The economy is doing better than expected and a healthy labor market continues to support household spending,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “We continue to see a slowdown in pay growth without broad-based job loss.”

The report added that “annual pay was up 6.2 percent year-over-year”. “Job stayers saw a year-over-year pay increase of 6.2 percent, the slowest pace of gains since November 2021. For job changers, pay growth slowed to 10.2 percent,” ADP further noted in its publication.

More employment data is due on Thursday, including the weekly Jobless Claims and Q2 Unit Labor Cost, and on Friday, with the release of Nonfarm payrolls.

Market reaction:

The US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to fresh daily highs following the data toward 102.40, as US Treasury yields bounce to the upside.

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

GBP/USD stays weak near 1.3250 on resurgent USD demand

GBP/USD stays weak near 1.3250 in European trading on Tuesday, reversing a part of the previous day's advance to a one-week high. The pair ditches a three-day winning streak, undermined by the USD/JPY upsurge-led broad US Dollar rebound. US jobs data in next in focus.

EUR/USD keeps the red near 1.1400 on firmer US Dollar

EUR/USD remains in the red near 1.1400 in early Europe on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak amid a firmer US Dollar. The pair trades with caution ahead of Germany's preliminary inflation readings and the US JOLTS Job Openings Survey.

Gold recovers early lost ground to YTD low; Fed hike bets and firmer USD to cap upside

Gold builds on its intraday recovery from the lowest level since November 2025, touched earlier this Tuesday, and climbs to the top end of its daily range heading into the European session. Any meaningful appreciation still seems elusive in the wake of a broadly firmer US Dollar. Against the backdrop of renewed Mideast tensions, mixed signals on US-Iran talks assist the USD to stall its recent pullback from the highest level since May 2025.

Ripple defends critical support, Stellar extends recovery

Ripple (XRP) trades around the key $1.00 psychological level, consolidating as the token awaits its next directional catalyst. Stellar (XLM) extends its recovery above $0.178 after posting modest gains at the start of this week.

US JOLTS Job Openings expected to show strong labor demand, endorsing Fed rate hike bets

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for May on Tuesday at 14:00 GMT. Job openings are expected to come in at 7.3 million in May.

Kevin Warsh isn't expected to say much in Sintra: That's exactly why markets will listen

Financial markets could find an important catalyst in the enchanting, fairytale-like landscape of Sintra this week. The ECB Forum will, as it does every year, gather the crème de la crème of central banks. The new boss at the Fed, who has clearly said that the Fed should stop explaining everything, will need to talk – and traders should listen.