The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Wednesday the U.S. private employers added 125,000 jobs in October.

Economists had expected a gain of 120,000.

The increase for September was revised sharply down to 93,000 from the originally reported 135,000.

" While job growth continues to soften, there are certain segments of the labor market that remain strong,” noted Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “The goods producing sector showed weakness; however, the healthcare industry and midsized companies had solid gains.”

Meanwhile, Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Job growth has throttled way back over the past year. The job slowdown is most pronounced at manufacturers and small companies. If hiring weakens any further, unemployment will begin to rise.”