Among the industries with the biggest gains last month were education and health services, which added 53,000 jobs; retail, which added 28,000; and temporary help services, which expanded by 34,900 jobs.
Categories that have been steadily adding jobs (retail stores, bars and restaurants) tend to be low-paying, while categories that were flat in December (including state government jobs) tend to be solidly middle class.
At the occupational level, the positions with the fastest projected growth are registered nurses (expected to add 712,000 jobs), retail sales workers (707,000), home health aides (706,000) and personal care aides (607,000).
Important economic sectors in Bath include education and health (30,000 jobs), retail, tourism and leisure (14,000 jobs) and business and professional services (10,000 jobs).
But the work is far more physically demanding ― after all, these are warehouse jobs, not retail jobs.
She assumed she would exit school with a job in retail as a merchandising analyst.
Their daughters are now 25 and 22; Ms. Sand supported them with a job in retail sales.
Regardless, the result is still more shadow work, as customers take on the job that retail salespeople once did.
At $12.50 an hour, she said, the pay is slightly higher than in her previous job, in retail sales.
For comparison purposes, the largest job -- retail sales -- employs 4,209,500 people, or 3.2percentt of the total American workforce.
