U.S. private-sector employers added 42,000 jobs in October, snapping a two-month streak of payroll declines but signaling only a tentative recovery in a labor market that has cooled sharply from its pace earlier this year.

The gain, reported Wednesday by ADP Research, exceeded economists’ expectations and marked the first monthly increase since July. The figure arrives as the ongoing government shutdown has suspended release of official employment statistics, making private-sector data a closely watched barometer of labor-market health.

“Private employers added jobs in October for the first time since July, but hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “Meanwhile, pay growth has been largely flat for more than a year, indicating that shifts in supply and demand are balanced.”

The rebound wasn’t broad-based. Trade, transportation, and utilities led gains with 47,000 new positions, while education and health services added 26,000 and financial activities contributed 11,000.

By contrast, professional and business services cut 15,000 jobs, information lost 17,000, and leisure and hospitality shed 6,000. Manufacturing contracted by 3,000, underscoring continued weakness in the goods-producing sector.

Large companies were responsible for all the net growth, adding 73,000 jobs. Medium-sized firms eliminated 21,000 positions, and small businesses cut 10,000.

Regionally, the West led with 40,000 new jobs, concentrated in the Pacific states. The Northeast lost 12,000, dragged down by declines in the Mid-Atlantic.

Pay growth held steady. Wages for job-stayers rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier, unchanged from September, while job-changers saw a 6.7 percent increase.

The ADP report, produced with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, is based on payroll data from more than 26 million private-sector employees and excludes government workers. September’s job loss was revised to 29,000 from an initial estimate of 32,000.

The next ADP report, covering November, is scheduled for release on Dec. 3.