National News

Which jobs are coming back first? Which may never return?

America’s job market added 2.5 million new jobs in May, as the economy began to wake up from what one economist called a “medically induced coma.” The new jobs are clustered in people-facing companies that have started to hire back workers they’d furloughed, so in reality many aren’t so new. We’re talking about places like bars and restaurants, hair salons, medical offices and car dealerships.

Spot a trend? Yep, it’s the service sector, the heart of the modern American economy and the epicenter of the recent jobs earthquake. A record 20.5 million jobs evaporated in April, some losses coming in surprising areas like nursing. We’re in a unique recession, prompted not by a housing bust or a market crash, but a virus with an unpredictable course. Sure, we have data from the 1918 flu pandemic, but it’s of limited utility for projecting jobs in e-sports or Starbucks. To be sure, jobs are growing right now in key spots we highlight below, but beware of forecasting too far out. As one economic expert warns us, don’t rely on economic experts. “The leading economic indicator is the virus,” energy scholar Sarah Ladislaw told us weeks ago.

First, the winners
Bartenders, kitchen staff. More of us ventured out to eat — or grab takeout — fueling 1.2 million new jobs last month in the leisure and hospitality sectors (Labor Dept). Big gains occurred in food services, drinking spots and laundry services.

At the dentist, at the doctor. Start flossing. These sectors awoke in May, when employers added 312,000 positions as partial re-openings allowed for teeth cleanings and physicals.

Construction contractor positions grew 325,000 in May. Government support kicked in for companies, and building restrictions loosened. Overall construction positions grew, but specific areas of strength included specialist contractors: plumbers, painters, electricians.

Retail positions, which got whacked with 2.3 million losses in April, began a potential comeback to the tune of 368,000 jobs. Where? In clothing stores, car dealers and general merchandise stores.

Online shopping outlets posted 176% more new job listings than the January/February average, the analysts firm Emsi found. That means 8,000 more new listings. Shopping from the couch may be locked in for more and more Americans.

Mobile marketing. SenText Solutions, which blasts ads via SMS on behalf of clients like Subway, Sky Zone Trampoline Park, Harley Davidson and Ace Hardware, had the most new listings on Monster.com’s list of 100 companies hiring this week. Here’s the site’s top-10 hiring companies right now:

The survivors
Hardware and networking: During the job crash of April, when just about every industry shed jobs, hiring according to LinkedIn rose a remarkable 2.3% for semiconductor makers, internet service providers, wireless firms and makers of networking gear.

Small biz jobs. The hiring rate for small businesses ticked up 0.4% in May, LinkedIn said, noting that small businesses shed workers first in the recession and now may be recovering sooner. By contrast, larger companies with more than 10,000 workers pared back 39.6%.

A few cities. LinkedIn found tentative rebounds in small business hiring in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Dallas-Forth Worth, Denver and Philadelphia.

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