Healthcare Job Postings Stall in February

Online job ads for healthcare practitioners, technical workers, and support staff tapered in February, undercutting some of the surging job demand gains for the healthcare sector in January, according to the new The Conference Board Help Wanted Online report.

Labor demand for healthcare practitioners and technicaloccupations dropped 4,300 in February to 600,100 owing largely to decreases in advertised vacancies for registered nurses and occupational and physical therapists. Healthcare support positions posted a similar decrease of 4,200 to 139,000 in February, The Conference Board reports.

The board's Help Wanted Online Data Series tracks more than 1,000 online job boards across the United States.

In January, The Conference Board reported 78,500 new listings for practitioners and technicians, and 16,600 new ads for healthcare support jobs also grew by 16,600 listings, as healthcare jobs led a strong first month of 2011.

Even with February’s slight drop, there were still more than three job listings for every healthcare technician and practitioner job seeker, with the average salary of $33.51 an hour. There were two healthcare support workers for every online job listing, with pay averaging $12.84 an hour, The Conference Board reports.

Hospitals created 50,100 jobs in 2010, nearly double the rate of job creation from 2009, and the entire healthcare sector - everything from allergists to X-ray technicians -- created 265,800 jobs for the year, Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary data shows.