The unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent for the third month in a row, the Labor Department report showed.

The number of new jobs in the monthly report on nonfarm payrolls topped Wall Street economists' consensus forecast of 125,000; the 4.5 percent jobless rate was in line with expectations.

The report appeared to support the Federal Reserve's view that the economy is pulling out of the first-quarter soft patch, despite a persistent slump in the housing sector, analysts said.

"Today's report adds to the evidence that the economy bounced back in the second quarter, probably to the 3.0 to 3.5 percent range, from the anemic 0.7 percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate in the first quarter," said Nigel Gault, economist at the research firm Global Insight.

Economists consider job creation a leading indicator of economic momentum, with a benchmark of between 110,000 and 140,000 jobs new jobs needed each month to absorb growth in the number of people seeking work.

June was the 46th consecutive month of rising employment in the US. The unemployment rate was slightly below the average for 2006, and well below the average of the past four decades.

The Labor Department upwardly revised US job gains in April and May by a total of 75,000. That meant 190,000 jobs were gained in May -- the biggest increase since December 2006 -- from an initial estimate of 157,000, and 122,000 in April, instead of 80,000.

New jobs created in June in the services, education, health, government and construction sectors far outweighed losses in manufacturing and the retail sector.

"All in, this is still a solid economic report, which shows the US economy is weathering the housing slowdown," Andrew Busch at BMO Capital Markets said.

Average hourly wages, a measure of wage inflation pressures, rose 0.3 percent in June, or six cents, to 17.38 dollars, and were up 3.9 percent on a 12-month basis. Meanwhile, the average workweek extended to 33.9 hours from 33.8 in May.

With rising wages and longer workweeks, households appeared likely to have the means to keep spending, which fuels roughly two-thirds of US economic activity.

"The solid increase in both jobs and wages tells us consumers will have the income to continue spending," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

Some analysts suggested, however, that rising wage pressures would worry the central bank, which wants to keep so-called core inflation below two percent.

The central bank late last month held its key interest rate steady at 5.25 percent, where it has been since June 2006.