Strong September healthcare hiring behind historically low unemployment rate

Strong healthcare hiring helped push the overall unemployment rate to a historic low in September.

Healthcare added 38,800 jobs last month, making up nearly 30% of overall hiring and contributing to a lower, 3.5% unemployment rate. The U.S. unemployment rate hasn't been this low since December 1969, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' September jobs report, released Friday.

September's healthcare hiring was up slightly from August's revised count of 37,200 jobs added, which was a significant revision from the preliminary estimate of 23,900 jobs added in August.

As usual, ambulatory hiring dominated the healthcare industry, making up about three-quarters of jobs added, or 28,700 new hires. Preliminary data indicated the ambulatory sector had made 12,100 new hires in August, which would have been down significantly from July. However, the actual number is likely much higher, given the agency's revised total.

September was another strong month for hospitals, which added 8,100 jobs. That's down from 8,800 new hires in August, according to the government's preliminary data.

Within the ambulatory sector, physicians' offices made 5,200 new hires in September, up 174% from August's preliminary hiring total. Dentists' offices made 900 new hires last month, down 44% from August's preliminary count.

Home health added 5,700 new jobs in September, down 16% from August. September's preliminary numbers show a strong upswing in offices of other health practitioners, which added 9,500 jobs last month. That's after shedding 1,200 jobs in August, per the bureau's preliminary estimate.

Hiring was weak in the nursing and residential care sector, adding just 2,000 jobs. Community care facilities for the elderly shed 300 jobs last month, and residential mental health facilities shed 100 jobs. Nursing care facilities added 1,100 jobs.

An analysis by Jefferies concluded healthcare employment remains "remarkably strong" and has grown month-over-month for 68 consecutive months, since February 2014.

"We believe the combination of strong demand growth from healthcare employers and shortages of many clinicians (nurses, physicians) creates a positive set-up for the healthcare temp staffing industry … for Q4 and into 2020," the authors wrote.

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 136,000 jobs last month, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage point. The number of unemployed declined by 275,000 people last month to 5.8 million.

Employment in professional and business services grew by 34,000 jobs last month, and government employment grew by 22,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing added 16,000 jobs in September, and retail trade shed 11,000 jobs.