U.S. private-sector employment rose by 163,000 in July, seasonally adjusted, according to the national employment report released today by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASD: ADP). Also, June’s employment growth was revised downward to 172,000 from the initially reported 176,000.

The service-providing sector added 148,000 jobs in July, while employment in the goods-producing sector rose by 15,000.

“According to this month’s ADP National Employment Report, the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of ADP. “This increase marks two-and-half years of positive job growth. According to our data, businesses across the country have restored nearly 4 million jobs during this period with an average of 131,000 new positions a month. Although encouraging, we’d like to see continued growth but at more robust and consistent levels.”

Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 workers, added 73,000 jobs in July. Large businesses, those with 500 or more workers, gained 23,000 jobs. Midsize businesses added 67,000 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.