About 125,000 jobs were lost in June in the United States - the first time that jobs were shed on a month-on-month basis since October.
The Labor Department said on Friday the overall decline was driven by the departure of 225,000 temporary employees who had been working on the US Census in May.
The private sector created 83,000 jobs - an improvement on May, but below March and April's totals.
It was also less than analysts had hoped for.
