Nearly one in four of the 173,000 new jobs created in the U.S. economy in August was in healthcare, according to preliminary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statics.
Preliminary jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statics shows that healthcare created 41,000 jobs in August, 314,200 jobs in the first eight months of 2015 and 457,000 new jobs over the past 12 months. The healthcare sector has accounted for 18.5% of the nearly 1.7 million non-farm payroll additions in the overall economy in 2015, BLS preliminary data show.
The $2.9 trillion spent on healthcare in the United States represents roughly 17.4% of the gross domestic product.
Within the healthcare sector BLS data show that the ambulatory healthcare services created 21,000 new jobs, and hospitals created 16,000 new jobs. Nursing and residential care created 3,500 jobs.
The healthcare sector accounted for more than 15.1 million of the nation's jobs in August, with more than 4.9 million jobs at hospitals, more than 6.9 million jobs in ambulatory services, and more than 3.3 million people in nursing and residential care, BLS preliminary data show.
BLS data from July and August are preliminary and may be considerably revised in the coming months.
In the larger economy, the 173,000 nonfarm payroll additions in August tapped down the nation's unemployment rate to 5.1%, with 8 million people unemployed.
The number of people unemployed for less than five weeks fell by 393,000 in August. The number of long-term unemployed—people jobless for 27 weeks or longer—was 2.2 million in August, and represented 27.7% of the unemployed, BLS preliminary data show.
John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.