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Healthcare Sector Adds 37K Jobs in October

Analysis  |  By Melanie Blackman  
   November 05, 2021

Home healthcare services and nursing care facilities accounted for a majority of the gain.

The healthcare sector added 37,000 jobs in October, according to the newest Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report, issued Friday morning.

Most of the gain occurred in home healthcare services, which accounted for 16,000 added jobs. Nursing care facilities accounted for an additional 12,000 jobs.

Between September and October, ambulatory healthcare services saw an increase to 323,000 jobs, hospitals saw an increase to 110,000 jobs, and nursing and residential care facilities saw an increase to 237,000 jobs.

There were 16 million people attached to the healthcare sector workforce in October, BLS said.

While the job numbers are up this month, the healthcare sector has lost a total of 460,000 jobs since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose 531,000 in October, decreasing the overall unemployment rate 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent. Monthly job growth has averaged 582,000, and the number of unemployed people fell to 7.4 million, BLS reported.

The bureau also noted that 11.6% of employees teleworked in October because of the pandemic, which is 13.2% less than in September.

The BLS report accounts for employment in mid-October and can be subject to considerable revision.

In August, the change in total nonfarm payroll employment was revised to 117,000, and September was revised to 118,000, BLS reports. With these revisions, employment in August and September is 235,000 higher than was previously reported.

Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.


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