WASHINGTON (Fox Business): U.S. private employers in December shed jobs for the first time in six months, suggesting the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis has stalled amid a resurgence in cases, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.

The report showed that companies shed 123,000 jobs last month, missing the 88,000-job increase that economists surveyed by Refinitiv had predicted.

The data precedes the Labor Department’s more-closely watched jobs report, which is predicted to show the U.S. economy added 100,000 jobs last month, down from November’s gain of 245,000.

Analysts anticipate unemployment will hold steady at 6.7%.