Economists took some comfort in the report's private payrolls number, which showed businesses are hiring, albeit at a snail's pace.
Private businesses added 64,000 workers in September. It marked the ninth straight month the private sector added jobs, but was a slowdown from the previous two months.
"We're not losing jobs, but we're not gaining at a high enough rate to make a dent in the employment problem either," said Stephen Bronars, senior economist with Welch Consulting.
Economists say they need to see a gain of about 150,000 jobs per month, just to keep pace with population growth.
The government also revised its figures from both July and August lower, showing that 15,000 more jobs were lost over the summer than previously reported.
Overall, Friday's jobs report disappointed economists, who were expecting no change to the payrolls number.