U.S. private-sector employment rose by 119,000 in April, seasonally adjusted, according to the national employment report released today by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASD: ADP). Meanwhile, February’s employment growth was revised downward to 201,000, from the initially reported 209,000.

The service-providing sector added 123,000 jobs in April, while employment in the goods-producing sector fell by 4,000.

“According to data shown in the ADP national employment report, monthly employment gains averaged just over 200,000 during the first quarter of this year,” said ADP President and CEO Carlos Rodriguez. “This month’s modest increase of 119,000 jobs appears consistent with the first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 2.2 percent. We hope future rates of job creation will be more aggressive and sustained.”

Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 workers, added 58,000 jobs in April. Large business, those with 500 or more workers, gained 4,000 jobs. Midsize businesses added 57,000 jobs.

The report is derived from a sample of ADP data that averaged approximately 500,000 U.S. business clients. During 2011, this subset averaged about 344,000 U.S. business clients, representing more than 21 million U.S. employees.