The US unemployment rate dipped to 5.9% in November as American businesses hired 57,000 people, according to the US government's latest employment figures.
The jobless rate was down from 6% in October, but Wall Street analysts had predicted an increase of 150,000 jobs as the recovery in the economy starts to bring down the jobless numbers.
Companies had taken on 328,000 extra workers since July, including 137,000 in October, slightly more than first thought, the US Labor Department said.
The industries showing the strongest signs of growth were the construction sector which hired 10,000 people and the education and health sectors which hired 34,000. The US government sector was responsible for 7,000 of the new hires.
However, 28,000 job losses in the retail and 17,000 jobs lost in the manufacturing sector dragged down the figures.
