The largest employment gains include an additional 16,000 jobs in hospitals.
The healthcare sector added 58,000 jobs in October, according to the latest federal jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning.
This marks an increase from the 53,000 jobs created in the healthcare sector in September, but still below the 75,000 jobs created in August, 126,000 jobs created in July, and the 318,000 jobs created in June.
October marks the sixth consecutive month of job growth in the healthcare sector, which suffered epic job losses in the spring owing to the coronavirus pandemic. In May, the sector saw 312,000 payroll additions, mostly in outpatient care venues.
The largest October employment gains include 16,000 jobs in hospitals, 14,000 jobs in physician offices, and 10,000 jobs in outpatient care centers.
Nursing and residential care facilities saw a loss of 9,000 jobs.
The October job report largely reflects the state of the economy in mid-month and is considered preliminary and subject to considerable revision.
In the overall economy, payroll employment grew by 638,000 in October.
The unemployment rate dropped 1% point to a total unemployment rate of 6.9%.
Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.