The jobless rate dipped to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent in July, the Labor Department said.

The non-farm payrolls figure, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, rose from July's revised growth of 121,000, and came just ahead of Wall Street's consensus forecast of 125,000 for August.

The department revised the July figure up from its previously reported number of 113,000, and also upgraded the June figure to 134,000 from 124,000.

Economists estimate that the world's largest economy needs to create 125,000 to 150,000 jobs each month to keep pace with growth in the working population.

Various other indicators have shown the US economy flagging of late. The Federal Reserve last month suspended a long-running campaign of interest rate hikes to leave the main cost of borrowing at 5.25 percent.