The healthcare, professional business services, and retail trade sectors received the most notable employment gains last month.
The healthcare sector was once again one of the top sectors with notable job gains, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment situation summary.
In the month of August, healthcare employment rose by 48,000, with the most growth experienced in physician's offices and hospitals.
The ambulatory sector gained 22,000 jobs, which includes 15,000 jobs gained in physicians' offices. Additionally, hospitals gained 15,000 jobs and nursing and residential care facilities gained 12,000 jobs during August.
So far this year, healthcare has added 412 jobs, BLS reports. But, despite the steady increase in jobs over the past eight months, employment is still below February 2020 levels by 0.2%, or 37,000 jobs.
So far this year the healthcare sector gained:
- 18,000 jobs in January
- 64,000 in February
- 8,000 in March
- 34,000 in April
- 28,000 in May
- 57,000 in June
- 70,000 in July
Total nonfarm payroll employment gained 315,000 jobs in August, with the healthcare, professional business services, and retail trade sectors receiving the most notable gains.
With this growth, nonfarm employment has risen by 5.8 million over the past 12 months, BLS reports.
Employment is continuing to recover from the pandemic, and total nonfarm employment is now 240,000 higher than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.