WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. private sector hiring slowed in November to the slowest pace in three months, said a private survey released Wednesday.

U.S. private companies added 208,000 jobs in November, the fewest since August and down from 233,000 jobs in the previous month, said the National Employment Report released jointly by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and Moody's Analytics, based on a monthly survey.

Private sector job gains have been above 200,000 in seven of the past eight months, a healthy trend that is enough to reduce the unemployment rate. "At this pace the unemployment rate will drop by half a percentage point per annum," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, adding that the tightening in the job market will soon prompt acceleration in wage growth.

In November, small- and medium-sized businesses accounted for most of the employment gains, adding 166,000 jobs, while large businesses with over 500 employees added 42,000 jobs, according to the report.

Employment in the service sector rose by 176,000 jobs in November, down from 187,000 in the prior month. Meanwhile, the construction sector added 17,000 jobs and the manufacturing sector gained 11,000 jobs.

The ADP survey studied data from private businesses with more than 23 million workers on payrolls but excludes government job growth. The Labor Department will release its jobs report for November on Friday.

In October, the U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs and the unemployment rate declined to a six-year low of 5.8 percent, pointing to a strengthening job market.