The health and education sector lost 52,000 jobs last month, according to an ADP National Employment Report Economy Lab report released last week. The drop follows a loss of 13,000 jobs in the sector in May and 23,000 jobs in April.

Overall, the private sector lost a net of 33,000 jobs in June, according to the report, which analyzes the payroll transactions of more than 25 million US workers. It is produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Meanwhile, the economy on the whole added 147,000 jobs, which is in line with the average monthly gain of 146,000 over the preceding 12 months, according to the Economic Situation Summary published Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The healthcare sector by itself added 39,000 jobs in June, the BLS said, similar to the average monthly gain of 43,000 over the prior 12 months. Among the healthcare segments, nursing / residential care facilities and hospitals added 14,000 and 16,000 jobs, respectively. 

According to ADP, gains in leisure / hospitality (32,000 jobs), manufacturing (15,000), transportation / transportation / utilities (14,000), construction (9,000), natural resources / mining (8,000 jobs), information (5,000) and other services (5,000) offset losses in health / education (52,000), professional / business services (56,000) and financial activities (14,000) last month.

“Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in a press release issued in conjunction with the monthly report.

Large companies (defined as those with 500 or more employees) gained 30,000 jobs in June. Medium-sized companies (with 50 to 499 employees) lost 15,000 jobs, and small companies (one to 49 employees) lost 47,000 jobs during the month.

“Still, the slowdown in hiring has yet to disrupt pay growth,” Richardson said.

Annual pay gains for job-stayers, according to ADP, were 4.4% last month compared with a year ago, on par with gains reported in May. Pay growth for job-changers was 6.8% in June, down slightly from 7% last month.

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