WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers extended their solid hiring into July by adding 209,000 jobs. It was the sixth straight month of job growth above 200,000, evidence that businesses are gradually shedding the caution that had marked the 5-year-old recovery.

July's gain was less than in the previous three months, though, and probably wasn't strong enough to suggest that the Federal Reserve will soon raise interest rates to curb inflation.

But the Labor Department's monthly jobs report Friday pointed to an economy that has bounced back with force after a grim start to the year and is expected to sustain its strength into 2015. Along with the consistent job growth, consumer spending is rising, manufacturing is strengthening and auto sales are up.

The unemployment rate ticked up in July to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent as more Americans started looking for work. Most didn't find jobs, but the increase suggests that they're more optimistic about their prospects. The jobless aren't counted as unemployed unless they're actively seeking work.

Average job gains over the past six months reached 244,000 in July, the best such monthly average in eight years.

"Job growth slowed in July after heated gains in the past three months," Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, noted in a research note. "But hiring trends remain solid, reflecting a strengthening economy."

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The pickup in hiring has yet to translate, however, into larger paychecks for most Americans, a factor that has hobbled the recovery. In July, average hourly earnings ticked up just a penny to $24.45. That's just 2 percent higher than it was 12 months earlier and is slightly below current inflation of 2.1 percent. In a healthy economy, wages before inflation would rise 3.5 percent to 4 percent annually.

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