WASHINGTON, Dec 3: A weaker-than-anticipated report on the US labour market on Friday, showing just 112,000 jobs added in November, disappointed some but confirms a still-sluggish pace of US economic growth, analysts said.

The unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage points to 5.4pc, the Labour Department said. The slowdown in non-farm payroll job creation - seen as essential to sustainable economic growth - came after a surge of 303,000 new jobs in October. Economists had been expecting, on average, some 200,000 new jobs in November.

"The payroll reports was unambiguously soft," said economist John Lonski of Moody's Investors Services, adding that it appeared to contradict other surveys suggesting increased hiring in manufacturing and other areas.

"The conclusion you draw is payrolls are growing but at a rate that is well below the rate that is usually associated with the current state of the US economy." -AFP