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Unemployment in the US remained at a 50-year low in December, according to latest figures.

The US Labor Department reported that 145,000 jobs were created in the American economy last month.

That was shy of the 164,000 jobs Wall Street had been expecting and represents a slowdown on the 256,000 jobs created in November.

But the figure confirms that, for a tenth consecutive year, job creation in the US was positive.

That is the longest such run in 80 years.

The total number of jobs created in the whole of 2019 in the US was 2.11 million, although that was down on the figure of 2.68 million in 2018, when employers went on a hiring spree following President Donald Trump's corporate tax cuts.

During the month, there was significant job creation in the retail sector, where employment rose by 41,000 and in healthcare, where the number of people in work rose by 28,000.

On the downside, some 24,000 fewer people were working in mining, where the US coal industry has been under mounting pressure.

The figures mean that, in December, the US jobless rate held at 3.5% - down from 3.9% in the same month in 2018.

Within that, the jobless rate was just 3.2% for white Americans and just 2.5% for Asian Americans, but was 4.2% for Hispanic Americans and 5.9% for black Americans.

The jobless rate among teenagers was 12.6%.

Among degree-educated Americans, meanwhile, the jobless rate was a mere 1.9%.

Economists and investors said the figures, despite coming in below expectations, were positive.

Ronald Temple, head of US equity at Lazard Asset Management, said: "Although there are some signs of deceleration, this was another solid month for job and wage growth. The news reaffirms our expectation of continued economic growth through 2020."

However, some concerns were flagged that wages growth was weaker than expected, with earnings rising during the month by 2.9%.

This was less than the 3.1% growth that had been expected, but still ahead of inflation.

It did, however, represent the first month since July 2018 that average earnings for Americans have risen by less than 3%.

Edward Moya, head of trading in New York for foreign exchange brokerage OANDA, said: "Wage growth showed a broad range of weakness in construction, manufacturing, education and health services and in leisure and hospitality."

Ulas Akincilar, head of trading at the online trading platform Infinox, added: "Wages are the worry. Few will lose sleep over the fact that the headline jobs number fell short of expectations.

"Of greater concern is the slowing pace of wage growth, which… could steadily become a brake on the wider US economy."

But Robert Alster, head of investment services at fund manager Close Brothers Asset Management, said there was little to worry about: "Decelerating hiring and wage growth shouldn't be a cause for concern in the context of the encouragingly tight US labour market.

"Unemployment is low, and wage growth remains healthily above inflation - this puts more money into consumers' pockets and supports economic growth."

Concerns over lacklustre earnings growth were also dismissed by Larry Kudlow, President Trump's economic adviser, who said it was "remarkable" that the jobless rate remained so low.

He told Bloomberg: "I think this is a really strong (jobs) report. The huge increase in the stock market is, I have to believe, a sign of confidence."

Mr Kudlow said with Mr Trump about to sign a so-called phase-one trade deal with China this week, the US economy would continue to grow this year.

He added: "The Chinese are coming, they'll be here next week for two days... there will be celebratory lunches and dinners around the signing ceremony. Everything is in place - the translation work, the signing ceremony work - this is a historic, remarkable deal.

"Nobody ever thought we'd get to a phase-one (deal). The significance of a phase one is enormous - that's the tough part. This is a pro-growth trade deal. It has the capacity to add at least half a (percentage) point of growth this year, if not more."

Mr Kudlow said full details of the trade deal would be published on Wednesday next week but said they would include increased exports of US commodities like soy beans and wheat to China.

He added: "We've got a tremendous amount of progress on intellectual property… financial services, currency stability."

Meanwhile, as Wall Street opened, all of the main US stock indices shot to new all-time highs.

The S&P-500, the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all opened at record highs with the latter breaking above 29,000 for the first time.

Traders said this largely reflected strong demand for tech stocks - with the fact that job creation in December came in lower than expected being overlooked.

Among leading gainers was Sorrento Therapeutics, a San Diego-based drug company that has devised a treatment to relieve nerve pain, following news of a takeover approach.

Elsewhere in the healthcare sector, skin disease specialist Dermira was also in demand following news of a $1.1bn takeover by drugs giant Eli Lilly.

Aircraft maker Boeing was down by 0.3% following publication of a cache of documents in which a number of employees were scathing about the company's grounded 737 MAX airliners.

The US dollar also shrugged off news that job creation in December was weaker than expected, rising to a two-week high against a basket of global currencies, putting it on course for its biggest weekly gain since early November.