Privately run businesses eliminated jobs in November for the third time in four months, pointing to a broad slowdown in hiring that threatens to nudge unemployment higher and chip away at the economy.

US private employers lost 32,000 positions in November, with job creation seemingly locked in a standstill, according to the private payroll processor ADP.

The report risks heightening concerns of a faster deterioration in the labor market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final policy meeting of the year.