Companies in the private sector added 122,000 jobs in December, payroll processing firm ADP said on Wednesday.

The figure is below economists’ estimates of 140,000 jobs and lower than the prior month’s reading of 146,000.

“The labor market downshifted to a more modest pace of growth in the final month of 2024, with a slowdown in both hiring and pay gains,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “Health care stood out in the second half of the year, creating more jobs than any other sector.”

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The education and health services sector added 57,000 positions, leading job creation in December. Construction added 27,000 jobs; leisure and hospitality added 22,000 jobs; other services contributed 13,000 and financial activities added 12,000.

The construction industry added 27,000 jobs in December, ADP said. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via / Getty Images)

Hiring slowed in manufacturing (-11,000), natural resources and mining (-6,000), and professional and business services (-5,000).

A worker operates one of the metal-cutting machines at Gent Machine Co.’s factory in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 26, 2021. (Timothy Aeppel / Reuters Photos)

Large businesses – those with 500 or more employees – added 97,000 jobs in the month. Businesses with 50 to 499 employees hired 9,000 workers. Establishments with fewer than 50 employees added 5,000 jobs.

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Wage growth in December slipped to 4.6% on an annual basis, the slowest pace of gains since July 2021, ADP said.