Employers added 223,000 new positions last month, pushing the jobless rate down from 3.6% in November to 3.5%, sparking hopes that the largest economy in the world will avoid a drastic economic downturn.

The US Central Bank continues to increase borrowing costs in an attempt to to cool the economy and ease the price pressures.

As businesses struggle with the effect of higher interest rates and the fears of a decrease in consumer spending, recent news of job cuts at financial institutions and tech firms has drawn attention.

However, the monthly report from the US Labor Department revealed that nearly every sector is adding new jobs.

Although job losses are on the rise, especially in the tech world, the figures overall remained near historic lows last year, said Andrew Challenger, SVP at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"The overall economy is still creating jobs, though employers appear to be actively planning for a downturn," he said.