Companies added workers to U.S. payrolls in August in line with projections, contributing to signs of a steady labor market, data from ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey, showed Wednesday.

Hiring managers are taking on workers to meet sales, evidence of sustained job-market progress that Federal Reserve officials will weigh when they meet in September to decide whether to raise interest rates. The ADP data may also help affirm economists’ estimates of private payrolls for the August jobs report from the Labor Department due Friday. Such strength would support what analysts project will be a third-quarter growth pickup after a lackluster first half.

“The American job machine continues to hum along,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “Job creation remains strong, with most industries and companies of all sizes adding solidly to their payrolls. The U.S. economy will soon be at full employment.” Moody’s produces the figures with ADP.