January jobs breakdown: Which industries hired the most workers last month?

U.S. job growth came in stronger than expected in January, boosted by a flurry of hiring across different sectors of the economy.

Employers added 353,000 jobs in January, the U.S. Department of Labor said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, nearly double the 180,000 gain forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, against expectations for a slight increase.

“So much for the cooling labor market,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union. “The best part of the blockbuster number is how widespread the hiring has become. … This shows a growing labor market reflecting a broad-based economic expansion, and not just recoveries in a few sectors such as health care and government.”

The professional and business services sector accounted for the biggest payroll gains last month, adding 74,000 new jobs in January. That is considerably higher than the 14,000 average monthly increase in 2023. Employment rose in administrative and support services (25,700), computer systems design and related services (14,500) and architectural and engineering firms (9,900).

US JOB GROWTH UNEXPECTEDLY JUMPS IN JANUARY AS ECONOMY ADDS 353,000 NEW POSITIONS

There were also sizable gains within the health care industry last month, with payrolls growing by 70,300. The biggest gains took place in hospitals (20,400), nursing homes and other residential care facilities (16,500), home health care services (15,100) and doctors’ offices (14,500).

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Hiring within the retail industry was the third-largest contributor to the overall payroll figure in January. The sector hired 45,200 employees in January, with the biggest gains in department stores (17,500) and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores (10,400).

The government also delivered another burst of hiring last month, with payrolls climbing by 36,000. Hiring took place across all levels of government — local, state and federal.

“The increase in employment was robust and broad based,” said Joe Brusuelas, RSM chief economist. “Gains were clustered in the higher-paying categories.”

Other sources of hiring in January included social assistance (30,100), manufacturing (23,000), transportation and warehousing (15,500) and information (15,000). 

Just one sector of the economy shed jobs last month: mining and logging, which saw employment fall by 6,000 as mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction companies pulled back on hiring, the Department of Labor said in the report.