At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%, as expected.
The labor force expanded by 120,000 for the month, helping push the jobless level down by 0.1 percentage point, though the labor force participation rate held at 62.7%.
The household survey, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate and is often more volatile than the survey of establishments, showed employment growth of 168,000.
Markets showed little initial reaction to the data, with stock futures holding negative and Treasury yields also lower.
While the August numbers were close to expectations, the previous two months saw substantial downward revisions.
Persons:
Nonfarm, Dow Jones, Dan North
Organizations:
Federal Reserve, Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, North America, Allianz Trade, Manufacturing
Locations:
U.S, Dow