Job growth came roaring back in September after a late-summer swoon, as both hiring and the unemployment rate easily exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.

Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 248,000 last month, the Department of Labor said Friday in the September jobs report. Economists were looking for payroll growth of 215,000.

The unemployment rate, which is derived from a separate survey, ticked down to 5.9% from 6.1%. Economists were looking for no change in the jobless rate.

The rebound in hiring comes a month after shockingly weak gains. August payrolls grew by just 142,000. That was well below forecasts and broke a six-month street of hiring topping 200,000 a month — a feat last attained during the tech boom of the late 1990s.

As always, whether folks actually landed jobs greatly depended on the industry they were targeting. Here’s a look into the September jobs report:

September Jobs Report: Industry Highlights

Drilling down into the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September Employment Situation Report showed areas of strength in professional and business services, retail trade and healthcare.

Hiring in professional and business services picked up sharply, as the industry added 81,000 jobs in September vs. an average gain of 56,000 per month over the prior 12 months. Top areas for jobseekers included employment services, management and technical consulting services, and architectural and engineering services.

Retail trade remained an area of hiring strength, as employment there rose by 35,300 in September. The data were skewed somewhat by food and beverage stores, which added 20,000 jobs, largely reflecting the return of workers who had been off payrolls in August because of employment disruptions at a grocery store chain in New England, the Labor Department said.

Healthcare was hiring once again in September, adding 23,000 jobs last month. Leading areas for jobseekers within the industry were employment in home healthcare services and hospitals.

Employment in information, mining, leisure and hospitality, construction and financial activities also rose in September.

On the other side of the September jobs report, there were pockets of labor-market weakness in several major industry subsectors.

Nondurable goods lost 3,000 jobs last month, led by paper and paper products, chemicals, plastic and rubber products and textile product mills.

Other areas of job weakness included transit and ground passenger transportation, utilities, commercial banking and legal services.