U.S. private employers shed 84,000 jobs in December, fewer than the 145,000 jobs lost in November, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

The November decline was originally reported at 169,000.

The median of estimates among economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, was for a fall of 73,000 private-sector jobs last month.