Healthcare Job Postings Up in October

Online ads for healthcare practitioners and technical workers rose by 26,800 listings to 543,100 in October, posting the largest increase of any job sector for the month, and breaking three consecutive months of declines. Vacancies continue to outnumber skilled healthcare job seekers by more than 2 to 1, a report shows.

The Conference Board's Help Wanted Online Data Series, which tracks more than 1,000 online job boards across the United States, attributed the uptick to increases in advertised vacancies for registered nurses and occupational and physical therapists.

Healthcare support vacancy listings also reversed a three-month decline and saw an increase of 7,800 listings to 111,600, primarily reflecting an increase in demand for occupational and physical therapist assistants. However, there were 2.3 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy in healthcare support, The Conference Board reports.

The average wage advertised for healthcare practitioners and technical workers was $33.51 an hour, and the average wage for healthcare support occupations was $12.84 an hour, the report says.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will release on Friday its employment statistics for October, has shown that the healthcare sector is one of the few areas in the economy that has seen monthly job growth throughout the recession, although that growth has slowed considerably since 2009.

In the overall economy, online advertised vacancies rose 113,700 in October to 4,409,800, following an increase of 59,900 in September, with 40 of 50 states reporting increases in online job postings, The Conference Board reports.