The U.S. labor market in July capped off the best two-month stretch of hiring so far this year despite global turbulence and slower business spending, posing a challenge for the Federal Reserve as it aims to raise interest rates again in coming months without spooking investors.

Employers added 255,000 jobs last month while wages for private-sector workers matched their strongest annual pace of growth in seven years. More Americans joined the labor force, keeping the jobless rate steady at 4.9%.

“The July labor market report was exceptionally strong, and the warts were few and far between,” said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief U.S. macro strategist at TD Securities.

The latest figures spurred relief after an ugly May jobs report, a dim first-half U.S. growth reading, falling corporate profits and retreating business spending. At least in the short term, the economy appears to be on solid footing despite longer-run worries.

The firm employment picture has helped to propel consumer spending. But an improving labor market doesn’t entirely square with other data showing a deep slowdown in overall economic growth since the end of 2015. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic output, rose a meager 1% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate during the first half of the year, the Commerce Department reported in late July.