Healthcare employment grew in December at its average rate for 2009, while the wider U.S. economy disappointed analysts by losing 85,000 jobs and leaving the national unemployment rate unchanged at 10%.
December marked the 24th consecutive month in which the economy as a whole failed to post statistically significant job growth. Healthcare, meanwhile, has added 630,600 new jobs during that time to a workforce of about 13 million people and has shown net employment growth during every month of the recession.
Preliminary seasonally adjusted figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics say healthcare added 21,500 jobs in December, for a monthly growth rate of 0.16%, which was equal to the 2009 average. The industry overall grew its workforce by 2% during the year.
Within the subset of hospital employment, the figures were not as rosy in December. Hospitals posted their second-slowest month of job growth the year, adding just 1,400 jobs to a workforce of 4.7 million. Hospital employment grew 0.8% during 2009.
Physicians' offices in December, meanwhile, posted their highest net job growth since mid-2008, adding 8,900 employees to a workforce of 2.3 million, for a monthly growth rate of 0.4% Physician-office employment grew by 2.4% in 2009.
What do you think? Post a comment on this article and share your opinion with other readers. Submit your comments to Modern Healthcare Online at
mheditorial@modernhealthcare.com. Please be sure to include your hometown and state, along with your organization and title.
