U.S. healthcare employers added only 15,000 jobs in October, and September was worse than previously thought, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The government now estimates the sector shed 2,500 jobs that month.
Slowdown in healthcare hiring persists, AHA blames Medicare cuts
The slowdown in healthcare hiring persists even as employment in the broader economy appears to be picking up. Total nonfarm employment increased by 204,300 in October, and the unemployment rate stood at 7.3%. The revised numbers for September indicate the economy added 60,000 more jobs than the agency previously reported.
The healthcare sector, meanwhile, added an average of 17,070 jobs a month in 2013 through October, down 41% from the monthly average of 29,042 in 2012.
Hospital hiring so far this year is down 81% from the 2012 monthly average. Hospitals added 2,200 jobs in October and averaged 1,300 jobs a month from January through October, compared with 6,800 in 2012.
The American Hospital Association said the numbers reflect the effect of Medicare cuts that hospitals warned would force them to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers in the next decade.
“Today's jobs report provides an important reminder that hospitals are an economic mainstay, providing jobs and economic activity in communities across the country,” AHA Senior Vice President of Federal Relations Tom Nickels said in statement. “Cuts to hospitals such as the sequester, however, can have an immediate effect on hospitals' ability to create jobs.”
Follow Ashok Selvam on Twitter: @MH_aselvam
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