The US economy's job creation ability disappointed in December, despite solid hiring in manufacturing and construction, according to government data reported Friday.

While the unemployment rate held steady at the 17-year low of 4.1 percent, employers added just 148,000 new hires in the final month of the year, far below expectations, and even below the sluggish 155,000 reported in December 2016.

Economists had been expecting 200,000 new jobs or more last month.

In addition, revisions to the October and November data, led to a net decline of 9,000 jobs.

Source:AFP