The U.S. added 850,000 jobs in June, a number that both exceeded economists’ expectations and signaled an ongoing recovery in the labor market.

It was the largest increase in 10 months. The leisure and hospitality industries led the job gains as restaurants, bars, hotels, entertainment venues, and recreational entities added 343,000 new workers.

Local education was also a hot spot; 155,000 workers joined that sector. Retail added 67,000 employees with big upticks in clothing and merchandise stores.

“This is a strong report and should be taken as a sign of things to come for an accelerating labor market,” Aberdeen Standard Investments deputy chief economist James McCann said in a note.

The Associated Press explains that Friday’s job number is among a slew of positive news for the economy:

Restaurant traffic across the country is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and more people are shopping, traveling and attending sports and entertainment events. The number of people flying each day has regained about 80% of its pre-COVID-19 levels. And Americans’ confidence in the economic outlook has nearly fully recovered.

Average earnings also increased, as workers saw their paychecks grow by 10 cents to $30.40 an hour.

Yet, the economy hasn’t completed recovered from the pandemic. The unemployment rate actually ticked up a tenth of a point to 5.9%.

The economy is still 6.8 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic level.

CNN provides some context:

Even though the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6%, the number of people quitting their jobs voluntarily to look for another position jumped by 164,000 in June. It’s a tale of a job market in imbalance: Employers are struggling to attract and retain staff as the reopening spurred a hiring surge, because some workers are still not ready to return to work. Many fear infection, or worry about adequate care for their children or elderly relatives. The expanded jobless benefits that were created to soften the pandemic blow also allow people to take longer in choosing the right job for them, rather than to rush back into the labor market.

According to Heidi Shierholz, the director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, the job market will return to it’s pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020 if the pace of job creation holds steady.