From construction to health care, all industries powered US hiring surge in 2014
The U.S. economy added nearly 3 million jobs in 2014 in the most robust year of employment gains since 1999. The hiring spree was broad-based, with every major industry sector logging job growth.
Professional services, which includes high-skilled positions such as accounting and engineering, led the way in total jobs. It added 732,000 over the year. Health care, construction and leisure and hospitality also made notable gains.
The biggest percentage increase in job growth occurred in the temporary help industry, according to Labor Department data. Those jobs tend to pay less and provide fewer benefits.
That could partially explain one of the glaring weaknesses in Friday's jobs report: Americans' paychecks. They have barely kept ahead of inflation for most of the 5½-year-old recovery. In December, average hourly pay actually fell 5 cents to $24.57 an hour.
Here are the total number of jobs in various sectors and their growth over the past year:
| Industry | ||||
| Total jobs as of Dec 2014 | Total jobs as of Dec 2013 | Percent change | Total change | |
| Temporary help | 2,990,400 | 2,773,800 | 7.8 | 216,600 |
| Construction | 6,166,000 | 5,876,000 | 4.9 | 290,000 |
| Professional services (accounting, engineering) | 19,574,000 | 18,842,000 | 3.9 | 732,000 |
| Transportation, warehousing | 4,685,900 | 4,546,600 | 3 | 139,300 |
| Hotels, restaurants, entertainment | 14,856,000 | 14,435,000 | 2.9 | 421,000 |
| Health care | 14,915,500 | 14,604,500 | 2.1 | 311,000 |
| Wholesale trade | 5,907,500 | 5,796,800 | 1.9 | 110,700 |
| Education | 3,421,400 | 3,365,000 | 1.7 | 56,400 |
| Retail | 15,511,300 | 15,261,700 | 1.6 | 249,600 |
| Financial Services | 8,022,000 | 7,901,000 | 1.5 | 121,000 |
| Manufacturing | 12,239,000 | 12,053,000 | 1.5 | 186,000 |
| Information, telecommunication | 2,689,000 | 2,674,000 | 0.6 | 15,000 |
| Government | 21,945,000 | 21,854,000 | 0.4 | 91,000 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics