WASHINGTON - THE US private sector lost 693,000 jobs in December, indicating a rapid pace of job losses amid a prolonged recession, according to a private payrolls report Wednesday.

The job decline in non farm private employment, revealed in the ADP National Employment Report, was higher than the 476,000 losses reported in November.

Analysts had expected 493,000 job cuts in the last month of 2008.

'Sharply falling employment at medium- and small-size businesses clearly indicates that the recession has now spread well beyond manufacturing and housing-related activities,' the report said.

Employment in the service-providing sector fell by 473,000 in December and by 220,000 in the goods-producing sector, the 23rd consecutive monthly decline, according to the report.

Some 120,000 jobs were shed in the manufacturing sector, marking its 27th decline over the last 28 months, it said.

The ADP employment report came ahead of the official US payrolls report to be released Friday.

The US jobless rate has risen to 6.7 per cent, the highest since October 1993, with 2.7 million people having joined the jobless ranks since the recession began a year ago.