The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January according to new economic data—Employment Situation Summary – 2026 M01 Results. But the report was a bit confusing to me—it reported that 95% of those jobs (or 123,500) were in the health care and social assistance sector (see If Not For This One Industry, The U.S. Labor Market Would Look A Lot Worse).

Of the 123,500 jobs added in health care and social assistance, 81,900 (66.3%) were added in health care and 41,600 (33.6%) in social assistance. Of the 81,900 jobs added in health care, the largest gains were in hospitals (18,300), physician offices (17,800), and home-care services (17,100). In social assistance services, the new jobs were in individual…