Healthcare added 31,600 jobs in February, with increases of 9,500 in physician offices, 9,700 in home health, and 7,800 in hospitals, according to the new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary employment report.
The monthly survey, done in mid-February, was completed at a time when it was widely believed the U.S. would be relatively unaffected by the coronavirus epidemic.
Total estimated healthcare employment in February was 16.5 million, up 368,000 from February 2019.
The biggest healthcare job gains in February were in ambulatory healthcare services, up 23,600 from January.
Estimated hospital employment increased to nearly 5.3 million jobs.