The healthcare sector added 34,400 jobs in September, making up almost a quarter of new U.S. jobs for the month.
Hospital hires led the healthcare sector, adding 15,500 for the month.
Hospitals have created over 117,000 jobs in the first nine months of this year alone.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, more Americans are now insured, leading to more fiscally sound hospitals and systems, said Kyle Mattice, president of health services for the staffing firm Execu Search Group.
A push for quality over quantity is creating new jobs in population health and case management, Mattice said. The need for data analytics is doing the same for health information technology, telehealth and health information management, he added.
Physician offices, outpatient centers and other ambulatory sites created 12,900 jobs. Physician offices alone saw an uptick of 6,800 jobs in September.
Also, the nursing and residential-care sector grew by 6,000 jobs.
In addition, the U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in September, and unemployment was unchanged at 5.1% from August.
