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Healthcare Job Growth Rebounds, Sorta, in September

Analysis  |  By John Commins  
   October 04, 2024

It's the third consecutive month for the healthcare sector to see healthy but cooling job creation.

Healthcare created 45,000 jobs in September, rebounding somewhat from the outlier 36,300 jobs created in August, but still 21% lower than the 57,000 jobs the sector averaged over the past 12 months, federal data show.

It's the third consecutive month for the healthcare sector to see healthy but cooling job creation. Even with the slowdown, healthcare accounted for 18% of the 245,000 jobs created in the U.S. economy in September.

The growth was seen primarily in home healthcare services, (13,000) and hospitals (12,000), BLS reports. Employment rose in nursing home and residential care services, which added 9,000 jobs.

There were 17.8 million workers in the healthcare sector in September, an increased of 676,000 since September 2023, BLS data show.

The 254,000 new jobs created in the overall economy in September surpassed analysts' expectations and is well-above the 202,000 jobs created on average over the past 12 months.

The unemployment rate in the larger U.S. economy was little changed at 4.1%, BLS says, with 6.8 million people reporting as unemployed in September. These numbers are higher than in September 2023, when the jobless rate was 3.8%, and the number of unemployed people was 6.3 million.

The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls in September rose by 13 cents (0.4%) to $35.36. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4%. In September, the average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 8 cents (0.3%) to $30.33.

The biggest job maker in September was food service, which created 69,000 new jobs, up a staggering 492% from its 12-month average of 14,000 jobs. Government grew 45,000 jobs, including 29,000 at the state and local levels. Construction created 25,000 jobs, above the 19,000 new jobs the sector averaged over the past 12 months.

August and September job numbers are considered preliminary by BLS, and subject to revision. July job growth was revised upwards from 89,000 to 144,000 jobs. August job growth was revised up 17,000 to 159,000, and the combined revision for the two months means that there are 72,000 more jobs than previously reported, BLS says.

John Commins is the news editor for HealthLeaders.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

The 254,000 new jobs created in the overall economy in September was considerably higher that analysts had projected, and well above the 202,000 jobs created, on average, over the past 12 months

The unemployment rate in the larger U.S. economy hardly budged at 4.1%, BLS says, with 6.8 million people reporting as unemployed in September.  

The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls in September rose by 13 cents (0.3%) to $35.36.


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