The economy gained a better-than-expected 201,000 new jobs in August, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Economists had predicted 189,000 new jobs, and the report should further solidify the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates amid what officials previously labeled a “strong” U.S. economy. Experts say job growth should continue into the second half of 2018, fueled partly by last year’s tax cuts.