Good. But not too good.

That is the verdict from economists after the Labor Department reported on Friday that in August employers added 151,000 jobs, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, and wage gains were modest. It was a solid performance that keeps the economy on track, but not strong enough to push the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate when policy makers meet this month.

“It confirms that the economy is performing well, but does not provide the threat of overheating that might have caused an interest-rate increase sooner rather than later,” said Carl R. Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust.

Since the financial crisis, the Fed has raised interest rates just once, in December, from near zero. Low rates are intended to encourage businesses to borrow and invest, but Fed policy makers are now split between those who worry that reducing this economic stimulus would undermine growth and those who fear that waiting could allow inflation to take hold.

Republicans and Democrats mined the report for evidence that supported the economic arguments they will make through the November election. How to handle a recovery that has delivered steady but less than spectacular growth has not only been a flash point among Fed bankers — who will next meet on Sept. 20 and 21 — but also between the presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton.