Healthcare hiring rebounded in November, adding 28,400 jobs, compared with 18,500 in October. But the industry's job growth remains sluggish this year, according to federal data released Friday.
The improvement in healthcare was in line with robust hiring throughout the economy, which added 203,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in preliminary seasonally adjusted numbers.
The unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low of 7%.
Hospitals, which employ 4.84 million U.S. workers, are still adding few employees to their payrolls. In November, they added just 1,200 jobs, in line with this year's monthly average so far this year and 80% fewer than the average for the first 11 months of 2012.
And even though the broader healthcare numbers show a significant bump, the sector is still adding far fewer jobs than in 2012. The monthly average through November was 19,400, compared with 26,100 during the same period last year.
Ambulatory-care providers last month produced 26,300 jobs to bring the total to 6.6 million. They have averaged about 17,000 new jobs a month this year, about the same as in 2012.
Physician offices added 6,900 jobs in November and 5,300 in October. Nonetheless, average monthly hiring by physician offices remains down slightly from the prior year, with 3,900 new jobs each month compared with 4,600 in 2012.
Outpatient center hiring added 3,800 jobs last month, and the monthly average of 3,400 is about even with last year.
Follow Melanie Evans on Twitter: @MHmevans
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