WASHINGTON – A private survey shows that U.S. businesses hired fewer workers in September than August, a sign that slow growth may be holding back hiring.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 162,000 jobs last month. That's below August's total of 189,000, which was revised lower.

The September increase was better than economists had expected and marks the latest in a string of modest hiring gains reported by the survey. Still, the gain isn't enough to significantly push down the unemployment rate, which has been above 8 percent for three and a half years.