US private-sector employment rose by 147,000 jobs in October from September, according to the ADP national employment report. This is down from the total number of jobs added in September, which was revised up from 154,000 to 202,000.

Job gains fell short of estimates and marks the smallest increase since May and the third worst report in the past year, CNBC reported.

“Job growth remains strong although the pace of growth appears to be slowing,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “Behind the slowdown is businesses’ difficulty filling open positions. However, there is some weakness in construction, education and mining.”

The number of goods-producing jobs fell by 18,000, led by a loss of 15,000 construction jobs. Service-providing jobs rose by 165,000, including 69,000 jobs in the professional and business sector and 38,000 jobs in leisure/hospitality.

“Job growth appears to be shifting from small to large companies due to the lessening impact the global economic environment had on large companies earlier in the year,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and head of the ADP Research Institute. “This is also true because large companies often have the resources to attract workers with better pay and benefit packages.”

Large businesses added 64,000 jobs, the same as in September. Midsize businesses added 48,000 jobs in October, down from last month’s gain of 56,000. Small businesses added 34,000 jobs in October, also unchanged from September.

The ADP National Employment report is produced by ADP (NASD: ADP) in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.