Dec hiring was led by the hospitality and leisure sector as bar and restaurant managers hired wait staff, bartenders, and cooks in preparation for the end of the year.

This sector experienced net employment growth of 53,000 during the last month of 2021. Restaurants hired 42,600 employees, while hotels, motels, and other accommodations businesses added 10,000. Decent saw 6,600 job losses at amusement parks, casinos, and other recreation businesses.

While leisure and hospitality created 2.6 million new jobs in 2021. However, employment in this industry has fallen by 1.2million, or 7.2% since February 2020. Since February 2020, 653,000 people are employed in food services.

Another bright spot was December’s broad business and professional services sector. Computer programmers, management consults, and workers in the building and service sectors (janitors and landscapers, chimney sweeps included) saw solid gains. This sector gained 43,000 net jobs in December.

U.S. economic growth saw 199,000 new jobs added in December due to the addition of staff in professional and hospitality services. For the first time since February 2020, the unemployment rate was below 4% and wages rose by 4.7% in December 2020.

Many economists are still puzzled at the headline job numbers given their expectations of an increase north of 400,000.

“Overall, this print had mixed messaging – the payrolls growth number may look disappointing, but the underlying story is lack of availability of labor, which is manifesting itself in faster wage growth,” Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network, said in an email.

Construction and manufacturing both had decently-paid workers.

The 26,000 new jobs were created by manufacturers who hired 7,700 workers in machinery, 4,200 workers on motor vehicles, and 1,600 workers in furniture. Labor Department stated that over 8,000 net machinery gains are due to worker return from strikes.

The construction industry added 22,000 workers as it increased its workforce of heavy and civil engineers (10.400) and specialist trade contractors (12.900). The February 2020 construction employment level is 88,000 lower than it was in February 2020.

Retail was not at its best in December. Consumer-facing shops lost just 2,100 jobs during a crucial shopping season. Labor Department reported that 12,500 positions were lost at sporting goods, hobby and book stores in December. Warehouse clubs and supercenters however added another 15,000.

In the last month of 2021, government payrolls saw net losses as both state and local governments lost 5,100 and 7,800 employees respectively. Public sector employment fell by 12,000.

—Nate Rattner, CNBC Reporter, contributed reporting.