- The healthcare industry grew by 42,000 jobs in January according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, down from 52,000 added in December. That’s is still a record-breaking month for the industry.
- The highest growth in the sector, with 22,000 jobs, came from ambulatory services. Hospitals had a gain of 19,000 jobs, an increase from 7,400 in December.
- For the running 12 month period, the healthcare sector has grown by 368,000 jobs. That’s an increase from the 284,000 created in the prior year.
- Roughly 11% of the nations jobs are connected to the healthcare industry, and the Bureau expects that to grow to 18% by the year 2026.
- Healthcare careers represent 44 of the top 100 jobs in the US according to a recent US News & World Report’s, 2019 Best Jobs study.
Despite the growth, there are indeed concerns for the future with the healthcare industry facing a shortage of nursing and primary care physicians. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting of a nursing shortage of over 1 million nurses by 2022, that despite projected growth in the profession of 15% by 2026. Those gains will be offset by the care required an aging US population in the future.
A recent study by the Healthcare Financial Management Association says that nearly 80% of healthcare executives will increase their organizations’ labor budget over the next year [pdf file]. Almost half of those executives also said they would focus on labor expenses to help lower operating costs.
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