(This article has been updated with a correction.)
The healthcare industry added 46,800 jobs in May, nearly matching April's largest monthly increase this year.
The U.S. economy overall added 280,000 jobs—meaning about 1 in 6 were in healthcare—and the unemployment rate was rose to 5.5% from 5.4% in April.
Ambulatory-care services, which includes home healthcare services and outpatient-care centers, together generated approximately 27,600 jobs in May, a 16.9% jump from last month. Within that category, physician offices increased their staffs by 5,900 people. Outpatient centers added 4,500 jobs, and home-health agencies increased payrolls by 8,400. Over the past year, healthcare has added 408,000 jobs.
Hospitals added 15,700 jobs, a 5.4% increase from last month, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nursing homes and residential-care facilities added 3,500 employees. That's about a third as many as the sector added in April but still robust compared with declines seen in February and March, when almost 8,000 jobs were eliminated.
