Slow Health Care Employment Growth Continues

Employment in health care changed little in February, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This marks the third consecutive month of almost no change in employment in the industry.

Health care had been a rare bright spot in the monthly government jobs report. However, with inpatient volumes falling and the sequester cuts to Medicare reimbursement continuing, health care organizations have slowed hiring.

According to the BLS, health care added a mere 10,000 jobs overall in February, and most of this growth came from physician offices. They added 8,000 jobs in February, which makes sense as some types of care shift from inpatient to less expensive outpatient settings under health care reform.

Employment in hospitals was relatively unchanged in February, but is down by around 10,000 jobs since November of last year, the BLS report indicated.

When looking at the whole economy, both the number of unemployed persons (10.5 million) and the unemployment rate (6.7 percent) changed little from January. Winter is typically a slower season for jobs growth, and economists noted that February's gain of 175,000 jobs is still on track with the modest pace of recovery over the last two years.