Where Americans found jobs: Offices, clinics, construction

If you were looking for a job last month, you might have found plenty of opportunities in white-collar offices, health care, construction and restaurants.

Those sectors hired at a brisk clip, with "professional services" and "education and health" adding 107,000 jobs in November — 60 percent of all the net positions the economy gained. Over the past 12 months, those two sectors have generated a robust total of more than 1.1 million jobs.

Professional services, which tend to offer higher pay, include jobs in accounting, computer systems design, management consulting, scientific research and administrative support.

Construction hiring was also on an upward swing, adding 19,000 jobs in November. That gain was led by residential builders and trade contractors, reflecting a surge in home building. In October, builders broke ground on the most homes in nine years, according to the Commerce Department.

Categories that lost jobs last month included manufacturing, retail and information. Manufacturing has shed 54,000 jobs over the past 12 months, while all other major industries have expanded employment.

Overall, employers added 178,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent, a nine-year low.