US employment growth slowed sharply in May, with only 54,000 net new jobs added during the month.

五月份美国就业率剧烈下降，一个月只净增了5.4万个新工作岗位。

Markets had expected a rise of 150,000. It follows a downwardly revised but still rapid 232,000 increase in April.

Despite the slowdown, it was the eighth month in a row of positive employment growth, according to data from the US Labor¹ Department.

President Obama acknowledged that even though the economy was growing, the US still faced some tough times.

"There's nobody here who doesn't know someone who's looking for work and hasn't found something yet," he said, speaking on a visit to a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, where he highlighted the turnaround in the car industry after government help.

But he made no specific reference to the latest jobs data.

He added: "There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery," also citing high fuel prices, the economic problems that followed the earthquake and tsunami² in Japan, and instability in the Middle East.