The US economy added just 88,000 jobs in March, the lowest increase for nine months. A rise of approximately 200,000 had been predicted by economists.
At the same time, the Labor Department said the US jobless rate declined to 7.6% from 7.7% in February.
The retail sector lost 24,000 jobs in March, which was a major factor in the data.
At the same time, 12,000 jobs were lost in the US Postal Service.
However, the BBC reports other sectors of the economy performed much better, with 51,000 extra professional and business services jobs being created, and 23,000 new healthcare positions.
