US private-sector employment rose by 135,000 jobs in September from August, according to the ADP national employment report. But September’s gain fell far short of the 228,000 increase in August, which was revised downward from 237,000.

“In September, small businesses experienced a dip in hiring,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “This is in part due to Hurricane’s Harvey and Irma which significantly impacted smaller retailers. In addition, the continued slowdown we have seen in small business hiring could be due to a lack of competitive compensation to attract skilled talent.”

However, the job market still has strength.

“Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hurt the job market in September,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics said. “Looking through the storms, the job market remains sturdy and strong.”

Reuters reported the increase was the smallest monthly increase since October 2016 but still exceeded expectations. Its survey of economists had forecast the report would show a gain of 125,000 jobs.

The number of goods-producing jobs rose by 48,000 on gains of 29,000 construction jobs, 18,000 manufacturing jobs and 1,000 natural resources/mining jobs.

Service-providing jobs rose by 88,000, including 51,000 jobs in professional/business services and 29,000 jobs in education/health services. On the flip side, jobs fell in the trade/transportation/utilities and information sectors, down by 18,000 and 11,000 respectively.

Large businesses added 79,000 jobs September and midsize businesses added 63,000 jobs. However, small businesses lost 7,000 jobs.