The figure was unexpected. Analysts had expected an average of 55,000 new jobs, according to a Bloomberg tally.
In the private sector alone, the figure was the weakest since 2020.
"It was a pretty weak report that leaves the Federal Reserve in a tough spot," Wolfe Research chief economist Stephanie Roth told Bloomberg.
SEB's senior economist Robert Bergqvist downplays the significance of the figure.
"Mixed outcome in US data plays little role in the Fed decision on March 18. Now the focus is on the Middle East," he writes on X.
Market reactions included falling US interest rates, a weaker dollar and falling stock prices. In Stockholm, the stock market fell 1.5 percent.
Unemployment in February increased to 4.4 percent, from 4.3 percent.
