The U.S. economy created 313,000 jobs in February, smashing Wall Street expectations and pointing to a continued economic recovery. But there are industries that performed better than others in terms of employment growth.
The construction industry was the jobs winner for the month, adding more than 60,000 jobs in February. The government explained that much of those increases came from gains in specialty trade contractors and building construction. The sector has added 185,000 jobs over the past four months.
Here are the net changes by industry for the month of February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Job gains occurred in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday in a release. "Job gains have averaged 242,000 over the last three months."
The average workweek for all employees rose, too. The average week increased 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours in February, with manufacturing employees adding 0.2 hours on average.
The retail industry — which has fluctuated between net job gains and losses over the past few months — added 50,000 in February. Within the industry, employment rose in general merchandise stores and in clothing stores.
The government explained that the retail space usually sees a swell in hiring and layoffs over the course of the holiday months, but that the industry is little changed over the whole period.
Financial activities and business services also posted strong numbers, up 28,000 and 50,000 respectively, as employment in insurance carriers, securities, commodities contracts and investments climbed.
Manufacturing added 31,000 jobs in February and is up 224,000 over the past year, the Labor Department said. The information industry, which includes telecommunications as well as non-internet broadcasting and publishing, fell by 12,000 jobs.