The American economy delivered pretty much what was expected last month in terms of hiring, giving the Federal Reserve one more piece of evidence that conditions are strong enough to support an increase in the interest rate.

The pace of employment growth was steady, if not spectacular; the economy added 215,000 jobs in July. While not as robust as the gains recorded in May and June, Friday’s Labor Department report came in within 10,000 jobs of what forecasters had predicted, a notable feat of consistency in an economy that employs nearly 150 million people.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent. If the current pace of job growth can be maintained, economists expect the jobless rate to sink below the crucial 5 percent level by late 2015 or early 2016.

With the job market generally moving in the right direction, the Fed is likely to stay the course in its plans to raise short-term interest rates soon. Fed officials haven’t given a definitive signal, but they’ve indicated that a rate increase is possible at the next Fed meeting in September or at their last meeting of the year in December.