The US economy lost 203,000 private sector jobs in October, a survey showed on Wednesday, indicating deterioration in the labour market will persist even as the economy returns to growth.

Job losses are slowing, but not as quickly as some analysts had hoped. The decrease in private sector jobs was the smallest since July 2008, and marks the seventh consecutive month of declines in job losses, the ADP National Employment report showed. The report also revised its estimates of September job loss, estimating that 227,000 had been lost, 27,000 fewer than its previous estimate.