In a relatively flat job market, the construction industry contributed a bit of bright news.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. economy added 130,000 new jobs in January 2026.

However, the unemployment rate stayed the same, at 4.3%. This happens when expansion of the labor pool or the general population—or some combination of the two—offsets the number of jobs added, causing the rate to remain unchanged.

The BLS released its Employment Situation Summary on Feb. 11. According to the report, most of the new jobs in January were added by the healthcare sector (82,000 new hires), followed by social assistance (42,000 new hires) and construction (33,000 new hires).

Meanwhile, jobs in the federal government and financial services sector declined by 34,000 and 22,000 jobs, respectively.

Job growth in construction was driven primarily by gains in nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which includes electricians. The category added 25,000 new jobs. Residential specialty contractors added 5,600 jobs, and nonresidential building construction contributed 3,600 jobs. Meanwhile, heavy and civil engineering contracted slightly, i.e., lost slightly less than 1,000 jobs, which lowered the overall total for the sector. 

The overall increase in construction jobs was noteworthy because the sector showed little or no job growth all last year. The January increase could signal the beginning of an upward trend for the new year. 

Other winners in the U.S. economy include professional and scientific services, including lawyers, accountants and architects, which added 27,000 jobs, and warehouse, supercenter and general merchandise retailers such as Costco, Target and Walmart, which added 17,000 jobs. Most other industry sectors showed no growth or job loss for the month, adding significance to those sectors that managed to show noteworthy job growth.