That number - reported Friday - was weaker than expected. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 164,000.
But the pace of hiring remains more than enough to keep the longest economic expansion in history running, despite a struggling manufacturing sector HIT HARD by the trade war.
Friday's report also showed that American women held more jobs than men in December for the first time in nearly a decade.
That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which said the last time women dominated the job market was during a stretch between June 2009 and April 2010 following the financial crisis, when construction and manufacturing sectors were disproportionately shedding jobs.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in December was unchanged at 3.5% - holding on to a near 50-year low.
As for wages, the report showed them slowing.
Average hourly earnings last month climbed by just 2.9% after rising above 3% in November.
But despite the labor market ending the year with less momentum, the report will probably not change the Federal Reserve's assessment that both the economy and monetary policy are in a "good place."
