Healthcare Job Growth Down 50% in August

The decline in healthcare job growth matches employment declines seen in the larger U.S. economy.

Healthcare created 31,000 jobs in August, a sharp drop from the 60,000 new jobs averaged monthly by the sector over the past 12 months, federal data show.

It's the second consecutive month for the healthcare sector to see healthy but cooling job creation. Even with the slowdown, healthcare accounted for more than one-in-five (22%) of the 142,000 jobs created in the U.S. economy in September.

The growth was seen primarily in the ambulatory care sector, (24,000) and hospitals (10,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. 

The 142,000 new jobs created in the overall economy in August marks a precipitous drop (-30%) from 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 4.2%, BLS says, with 7.1 million people reporting as unemployed in August. These numbers are higher than in August 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 August rose by 14 cents (0.4%) to $35.21. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8%. In August, the average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 11 cents (0.4%) to $30.27.

The big job maker in August was construction, which reported 34,000 new jobs, up 78% from it's 12-month average of 19,000 jobs.

July and August job numbers are considered preliminary by BLS, and subject to revision. June jobs growth was revised down by 61,000 in June, from 179,000 to 118,000, and 25,000 in August, from 114,000 to 89,000, BLS says.