Private sector payrolls grew by 176,000 jobs from July to August, down slightly from a month earlier when roughly 198,000 positions were added.

Still, the gains are in line with expectations of steady growth, economists say. NPR notes that:

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, says in the ADP report that "it is steady as she goes in the job market. Job gains in August were consistent with increases experienced over the past two-plus years." Moody's works with ADP, a payroll processor, to produce the monthly report.