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Healthcare Sector Created 399K Jobs in 2019

Analysis  |  By John Commins  
   January 10, 2020

Healthcare created 399,000 new jobs in 2019, up from 350,000 jobs in 2018.

Nearly one-in-five jobs created in 2019 was in healthcare, which greatly outpaced nearly every other major sector of the economy for the year, federal data released Friday show.

For 2019, healthcare created 399,000 jobs—nearly 33,000 new jobs each month—up from 350,000 jobs in 2018. The 2019 figures include 269,000 new jobs in ambulatory services, up from 219,000 jobs in 2018, and 102,000 new hospital jobs, down from 107,000 new jobs in 2018.

More than 16.5 million people work in the healthcare sector at the end of 2019, which accounts for 11% of all jobs in the overall economy.

The new data is in line with BLS projections that healthcare sector employment will grow 18% from 2016 to 2026, "much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs."

On the downside, hospital spending will grow about 5.5% each year, from $1.3 trillion in 2018 to $1.8 trillion in 2026, driven largely by those same demographics.

In the overall economy, total nonfarm employment increased by 145,000 in December, lower than expectations, and 2.1 million in 2019, down from 2.7 million in 2018. The unemployment rate ended the year at 3.5%, compared with 3.9% at the end of 2018.

A further breakdown of employment in healthcare shows that the sector ended 2019 with 28,000 new jobs in December, including 23,000 jobs in ambulatory services and 9,000 jobs in hospitals.

At the end of 2019, more than 16.5 million people worked in the healthcare sector, which accounts for nearly 11% of all jobs in the overall economy, including 7.8 million in ambulatory services, and 5.3 million in hospitals.

John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

The 2019 figures include 269,000 jobs in ambulatory services and 107,000 hospital jobs.

More than 16.5 million people work in the healthcare sector at the end of 2019, which accounts for 11% of all jobs in the overall economy.


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