The Health Care sector led growth over the last year, with payrolls expanding by 117,800 or 4.2%. Other sectors posting strong gains include Government (56,700 or 2.2%), Administrative Support (20,900 or 1.0%), Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (20,000 or 2.4%), Leisure and Hospitality (17,100 or 0.8%), Education (11,600 or 2.8%), and Retail Trade (5,900 or 0.4%).

Manufacturing experienced the greatest number of job declines over the last year, with payrolls falling by -45,700, a -3.4% decrease. Other sectors with notable declines include Construction (-12,400 or -1.3%), Information (-11,000 or -2.1%), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (-3,200 or -0.2%), and Wholesale Trade (-2,000 or -0.3%).

During December growth was mixed at the industry level, with some sectors adding positions while others laid workers off. Leisure and Hospitality led the gains with payrolls expanding by 7,500, an increase of 0.4% on a month-over-month basis. Note, payrolls in Leisure and Hospitality are still 0.5% below their pre-pandemic peak.

Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Information (4,900 or 0.9%), Other Services (3,100 or 0.5%), Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (2,400 or 0.4%), Government (2,200 or 0.1%), and Wholesale Trade (900 or 0.1%).

Payrolls decreased a handful of sectors in December. Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services experienced the largest declines during the month, with payrolls falling by -3,600, a drop of -0.3% on a month-over-month basis. Other sectors posting significant declines include Retail Trade (-2,100 or -1.1%), Manufacturing (-1,300 or -0.1%), Construction (-900 or -0.1%), and Education (-500 or -0.1%).