Survey: US businesses added slight 125,000 jobs in October

BALTIMORE (AP) — U.S. businesses added a mere 125,000 jobs in October, a slowdown in hiring driven in part by job cuts in the manufacturing and construction.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that there hiring in September was also revised down sharply to 93,000 jobs from the initial report of 135,000 jobs. Hiring was solid in the health care industry and among employers with more than 50 workers, but the longest economic expansion in U.S. history has limited the number of people seeking jobs and a global slowdown has weighed on the goods-producing sector.

The ADP’s figures don’t include government hiring and frequently diverge from the government’s official report, which will be released Friday. Economists expect that report will show 90,000 jobs were added.