After adding a lackluster 64,000 jobs in June, the U.S. economy added about 163,000 jobs in July, exceeding economists’ expectations.

But the growth in the labor force caused the unemployment rate to rise slightly to 8.3 percent, up a tenth of a percent from the previous month.

The numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Aug. 3 show that employment rose in professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and manufacturing.

But there are still about 12.8 million unemployed persons in the nation, a figure that has shown little movement so far in 2012.

The average rate of growth this year is 151,000 jobs per month.