Jobs brochures are seen on display at a state unemployment office in Sunnyvale, Calif. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

The U.S. economy shed a lower-than-expected 36,000 jobs last month, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.7 per cent, the U.S. Labour Department reported Friday.

Analysts had expected employers to cut about 68,000 jobs as severe winter weather forced many workplaces to shut down for days at a time. The employment survey was carried out during the week when the storms were at their worst.

The market had expected the jobless rate would edge up to 9.8 per cent.

The U.S. Labour Department also revised its employment reports for December and January to reflect that 35,000 fewer jobs disappeared than had first been reported.

The latest GDP data showed the U.S. economy growing at an annual rate of 5.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2009. Still, companies have been cautious to resume hiring.

Since the U.S. recession began in December 2007, almost 8.4 million jobs have vanished. Almost 15 million Americans are currently without work. Friday's report showed that 6.1 million have been jobless for more than 27 weeks.