Healthcare Powers Most of U.S. Job Growth in July

The industry accounted for 76% of last month’s job gains, highlighting its importance as other sectors shed workers or remain stagnant.

The U.S. labor market’s reliance on healthcare for job creation hit eye-catching levels last month.

Though the overall market cooled in July, healthcare remained a bright spot by accounting for the majority of job gains, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The industry created 55,400 of the 73,000 jobs across all sectors, representing 76% of job growth in the country. Healthcare’s total surpassed the 39,200 jobs it added in June and was above its average monthly gain of 42,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Ambulatory health care services drove the bulk of the industry’s growth with 33,600 jobs added, while hospitals provided 16,000 and nursing and residential care facilities contributed 5,800.

Under ambulatory health care services, home health care services led the way with 14,400 jobs, supplemented by offices of physicians netting 6,700 jobs.

Within nursing and residential care facilities, skilled nursing facilities maintained a steady rate of growth by adding 2,900 jobs.

The 73,000 jobs added in total for July was less than half of the figures initially reported for the past two months. Those totals were also significantly revised, with May coming down from 144,000 jobs to 19,000, and June dropping from 147,000 to 14,000.

The unemployment rate last month ticked up to 4.2%, compared to 4.1% in June, and has remained between 4% and 4.2% since May 2024.

While healthcare once again proved to be a stabilizing force in the labor market, other major sectors such as manufacturing and government were on the opposite end of the spectrum last month, losing 11,000 and 10,000 jobs, respectively.

For hospitals and health systems grappling with staffing shortages, especially in nursing and frontline support roles, continued job growth is an encouraging sign. Still, even amid high demand, leaders are still balancing workforce investment with ongoing financial pressures.

Many provider organizations announced staff reductions in July, citing factors like policy changes in Washington and rising operational costs.

However, most of the layoffs initiated by hospitals and health systems have focused on non-clinical roles, with decision-makers emphasizing that importance of supporting frontline workers.