(CNN Business)As the US reopens in phases, more and more jobs are being added back to the economy. Unemployment officially fell to 13.3% in May as employers added 2.5 million jobs, the best month for job growth since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the data in 1939.
The Labor Department noted that during the pandemic, millions of workers were misclassified as "employed but not at work," when they should have been counted as "unemployed on temporary layoff." If it weren't for those misclassifications, the unemployment rate would have been higher — around 19.2% in April and 16.1% in May, not including seasonal adjustments.
From retail to restaurants across America, people are returning to their old jobs or finding new ones. Here are the occupations that reported the most gains:
Restaurant and bar workers
Restaurants and bars added back nearly 1.4 million jobs in May as they reopened across the nation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT - MAY 20: A bartender serves drinks at L'escale restaurant on May 20, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut. After two months of closures due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Connecticut partially reopened businesses on May 20, one of the last states to do so. Restaurants can now serve patrons at the outdoor seating at socially distanced tables. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
While restaurants and bars were classified by states as essential businesses that could operate on takeout and delivery only, many still closed down during stay-at-home orders. Some businesses found it hard, or economically unfeasible to adopt that model, or had other public health concerns.
Construction workers
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 26: A Construction worker takes care of traffic as they build a new tower on March 26, 2020 in New York City. Some construction workers building luxury condominiums are being forced to work in the city by their companies, while across the country schools, businesses and places of work have either been shut down or are restricting hours of operation as health officials try to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
Another industry that saw gains was the construction sector, where the number of jobs increased by 464,000 in May, gaining back nearly half of what they lost in April. Construction activity is part of the first phase of reopening and many projects are resuming work.
Retail workers
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 20: Dilhum Arango marks social distancing spots on the floor inside of the Aviator Nation clothing store on May 20, 2020 in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The city of Miami is allowing non-essential "retail stores, personal grooming establishments, offices and museums" to reopen after COVD-19 pandemic staring today. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
In retail, 367,800 jobs returned, with clothing stores seeing the largest gains. Gap announced in May it would reopen 800 stores, including Old Navy, Gap (GPS), Banana Republic, and Athleta brand stores.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said this week that the company hired more than 300,000 associates in the US starting in March, most of them temporary workers, to help "relieve some of the burden faced by" current store workers and give those who lost jobs more opportunities.
Factory workers
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 14: Johnny Diaz makes surgical masks out of spunbond polypropylene fabric using an impulse welder at Polar Shades Sun Control to help Las Vegas-area health care workers and first responders fighting the coronavirus on April 14, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company's facility transitioned from making items like window coverings, screen doors and drapery tracks to mass-producing protective gowns and surgical masks amid the pandemic. Polar Shades employees have sent out more than 40,000 gowns and 12,000 masks at cost since starting the new operation on March 22nd. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11th. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Factory jobs have also made a comeback, as they fit into phase one of the reopening. The manufacturing industry added 225,000 jobs.
That's good news for an industry that saw its largest drop in production in March since 1946. Auto, aircraft, and other factories stopped work to keep workers safe from the pandemic.
Dentists
In this Wednesday, May 27, 2020 photo, dentist Dr. Kathleen Saturay wears additional protective equipment, including a face shield and disposable mask over a respirator mask, as she exams a patient in Seattle. Dental practices were allowed to open earlier this month following closure because of the coronavirus outbreak, as long as offices have enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for their staffers, put in place social-distancing policies and check patients for symptoms of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
While hospitals and other essential medical services stayed open, dentists closed their offices, seeing only patients who required urgent care.
Health care hires jumped significantly in May, boosted by the reopening of dental offices reopening, which added 244,800 jobs.
"This news is certainly encouraging for the economy and the dental industry but is also important in that patients are returning with trust and confidence in their clinician and understand the link between good oral health and overall body health," said Pat Bauer, president, and CEO of Heartland Dental, which supports over 1,000 dental practices in the US. The company estimates those dental offices have added nearly 6,000 jobs, all of them, employees, returning from furloughs.
Delivery and laundry workers
A Postmates Inc. delivery person stands outside a Shake Shack restaurant in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, April 20, 2020. Shake Shack Inc. will return a $10 million loan from the U.S. government amid criticism that the publicly traded burger chain and other larger companies gobbled up the emergency funding while smaller businesses were frozen out. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Meanwhile, personal and laundry services added 182,300 jobs. That category includes any food delivery workers who are classified as employees but it doesn't count contractors, such as Postmates and Uber Eats part-timers or some Amazon drivers. Laundry is considered an essential business and some that closed out of caution has now reopened.
Janitors
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 5: A janitor walks through Brookfield Plaza, a shopping mall in Manhattans Financial District, on May 5, 2020 in New York City. As New York City continues its shutdown to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, mallslike those across the countrycontinue to remain shuttered. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images)
As businesses sanitize their facilities to keep the virus from spreading, janitorial services are more important than ever. Services to buildings and dwellings added 68,400 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.