U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in August, fewer than expected, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. 

Job gains mainly occurred in health care and financial activities, while mining lost jobs, the bureau said. Employment in federal government rose, "largely reflecting" the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 Census, it said. 

August's total nonfarm payroll employment is down from July's downwardly revised number of 159,000, and is lower than the Wall Street estimates of 150,000. 

Job growth has averaged 158,000 per month so far this year, below the average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018, the bureau said. The unemployment rate was at 3.7 percent for the third month in a row.

Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers in August rose by 11 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 28.11 U.S. dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.2 percent. 

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department revised down the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter to two percent from an initial estimate of 2.1 percent. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve will hold its next policy meeting on September 17-18. Traders see an over 90 percent chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut at the meeting, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group's FedWatch tool.