US Economy Added A Strong 201,000 Jobs In August

WASHINGTON DC (CNN/CBS News) -- The US economy added 201,000 jobs in August in another strong month of hiring.

The unemployment rate stayed at a historically low 3.9%.

According to CBS News the numbers beat economists' predictions of about 190,000 jobs added.

Wages grew 2.9% compared with a year ago, the strongest rate since 2009.

Wage growth accelerated, with hourly earnings rising 2.9 percent year-over-year. Economists have been puzzled by wage growth that has appeared stuck between 2 and 2.5 percent, despite historically low unemployment.

"We're finally seeing wage gains for some low-paid workers. These include things like baristas, cashiers and bank tellers, and I think that's helping boost that average wage number," Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at the job search site Glassdoor, told CBS MoneyWatch this week.

The job gains for August are roughly in line with the average for the year said CNN.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. CBS News also contributed to this report.

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