Where are the jobs? These sectors hired the most workers in January
Weather-sensitive industries helped to boost the overall payroll number
Mild winter weather powered a surge in job creation at the beginning of the decade, with U.S. companies adding far more positions than expected.
The stellar report, released by the Labor Department on Friday morning, provided further evidence that the U.S. economy, in the midst of the longest expansion on record, is continuing to grow. Thanks to an unseasonably warm winter, the economy added a robust 225,000 jobs last month.
“We expect 2020 to be another solid year for the job market, albeit with somewhat slower job gains over the course of the year than we saw in 2019 – unless the labor force participation rate continues to climb,” said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide.
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Weather-sensitive industries helped to boost the overall payroll number: Construction accounted for 44,000 positions, well above its 2019 average of 12,000. Most of the construction gains occurred in specialty trade contractors, with increases in both residential and nonresidential components.
Notable gains also took place in the leisure and hospitality sector, which padded the number by adding 36,000 jobs.
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Health care, meanwhile, continued to serve as a powerhouse in the labor market, with an increase of 35,100 jobs. A slew of those additions took place in the ambulatory health care services, with 22,500 positions. Physicians accounted for 5,600 employees. Combined, education and health services made up a whopping 72,000 of the jobs added to the economy last month.
Coming in fourth was the transportation and warehousing sector with 28,300 positions added. It was trailed by professional and business services at 21,000 and government at 19,000.
Still, it wasn’t all positive news: Manufacturing -- weighed down by an 18-month-long trade spat, the 45-day General Motors strike and trouble with Boeing’s popular 737 Max aircraft -- lost 12,000 jobs. Last year, the sector added just 46,000 jobs to the economy.
Retail trade posted a decline of 8,3000. Utilities also lost a modest 1,400 while financial activities declined by 1,000.