Healthcare employment stalls in March following large boost

Healthcare industry hiring in March saw the smallest increase in a year, as providers continue to experience staffing shortages and COVID-19 cases are on a slow decline.

Healthcare companies added an estimated 8,300 jobs in March, down from 66,400 in February, according to preliminary data the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. The industry contributed to a total of 431,000 new jobs across the economy.

Last month saw the smallest uptick in helathcare hiring since March 2021, when the industry gained 6,000 jobs.

Home health service providers, hospitals and health practitioners experienced the largest gains among healthcare employers last month. Despite falling well below pre-pandemic levels, the hospital sector has been on a slow upward trend since September.

Over the past year, the healthcare sector gained 228,000 jobs, although the industry is still down by 294,000 positions, about 1.8%, since the pandemic began.

Home healthcare services continued its overall upward trend by adding 6,400 jobs in March. For the first time, the sector surpassed its February 2020 employment level.Hospitals hired 5,100 workers, reaching their highest staffing level since December 2020. Offices of other health practitioners added 2,200 jobs last month after making 12,500 hires in February.

Several healthcare sectors shed jobs last month, offsetting gains made in February.

Nursing care and residential mental health facilities shrunk the most, losing 2,500 jobs and 3,000 jobs in March, respectively. The residential mental health sector, while seeing moderate growth in 2020, has been on a decline since early 2021. Nursing care facilities have not seen much change since September.

Dentist and physician offices each lost more than 1,000 jobs, following a steady upward trend over the past two years.

Medical and diagnostic laboratories lost 900 jobs in March after employment growth the previous month, when they made the most hires since July 2020.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6% in March, down 0.2% from February, with 6 million people jobless. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate was 3.5%. About 2.5 million people reported being unable to work due to closures or lost business linked to the pandemic last month, down from 4.2 million people in February.The U.S. still has 1.6 million fewer jobs than it did in February 2020, a net loss of 1%.

Leisure and hospitality reported the largest gains in March with an estimated 112,000 additional jobs—mostly in bars and restaurants—followed by professional and business services, which added 102,000 jobs and is up more than 700,000 positions from its pre-pandemic level.

Retail is also above its February 2020 level, and added 49,000 jobs, the third highest amount among all industries.