U.S. employers added 164,000 jobs in July, right in line with Wall Street's expectations — a fairly unnoteworthy number, but evidence that the record-long economic expansion is continuing to chug along at a healthy pace.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7 percent, near a 50-year-low, while the labor force participation rate was also little unchanged at 63 percent. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 8 cents to $27.98. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent, slightly beating expectations of 3.1 percent growth but continuing to disappoint.

For an economy with historically low unemployment, wage growth continues to fall short of expectations. It's not a new development for the U.S. economy, however: Since 1979, productivity has risen six times faster than hourly compensation for the typical U.S. worker. Plus, analysts caution that the greatest salary gains are going to already high-earning employees.

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