A decline of 54,000 people in the US workforce has been described as far less than expected.

The number of people in work in the United States fell for the third straight month in August.

Nevertheless, private employment, which is considered a better gauge of the health of the labour market increased by 67,000.

Because of the smaller fall than expected, President Barack Obama has referred to the job cuts as positive news.

He said the government would have to do more, especially for small businesses, which accounted for over 60 percent of job losses in the final months of last year.

President Obama has called on Congress to pass a small business jobs bill as its first order of business when it gets back into session later this month.