Non farm payroll figures show that the US has added only 38,000 jobs in May against a consensus of 165,000, the lowest figure since 2013.
Despite the dismal headline figure, the quality of jobs showed signs of improvement; average earnings in the report were up 0.2% to $25.59 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.7%.
In immediate reaction to the release, the FTSE 100 has dropped 20 points and the Euro rose nearly 100 points against the dollar.