Hospital Job Growth Surged in October

Even with the slower payroll additions, however, the healthcare sector is still outperforming the overall economy. BLS preliminary data show that the nation shed 190,000 jobs in October, and that nonfarm unemployment rose to 10.2%, the highest rate since April 1983. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, 8.2 million people have lost their jobs, and the unemployment rate has increased by 5.3%.

Since December 2007, the healthcare sector has created 597,200 new jobs. BLS preliminary data show that there were more than 13.7 million healthcare sector jobs in October. Hospitals created 174,600 new jobs during the recession.

Seasonally adjusted data, which are used in this story, allow for better month-to-month comparisons that better reflect changes in economy, rather than seasonal employment patterns. Payroll growth also reflects the number of new jobs, not the number of new employees, because one person can have more than one job.