The U.S. private sector added fewer jobs than expected in August as the labor market continued to cool off amid high interest rates, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Thursday morning.

Companies added 99,000 jobs in August – fewer than the 145,000 gain predicted by LSEG economists and the fewest number of jobs added in the report since January 2021. The report also revised July's gains downward to 111,000 after the initial report found 122,000 jobs added.

The Labor Department also released a report Thursday that found the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims last week totaled 227,000 – just below the 230,000 predicted by LSEG economists and fewer than the 231,000 new claims filed in the prior week.