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December 03, 2021 09:29 AM

Healthcare hiring flat as nursing home losses offset outpatient gains

Tara Bannow
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    Healthcare employment was effectively flat in November, putting it well behind industries like business services and transportation that saw hefty job growth.

    The healthcare industry added just 2,100 jobs last month, a barely noticeable uptick that followed the addition of almost 43,000 jobs in October, per preliminary estimates the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. Healthcare employment remained above 16 million for the second month in a row, a threshold the industry previously hadn't crossed since March 2020.

    Healthcare's meager job growth relative to other sectors illustrates the COVID-19 pandemic's disproportionate economic effects. Hospitals continue to treat infected patients and pay premiums for travel nurses, in some cases overwhelming their resources and crowding out their capacity to treat patients for conditions other than COVID-19.

    Significant increases in hiring by ambulatory care providers mostly offset another tough month for nursing homes, which shed an estimated 8,400 jobs. Employment in residential mental health facilities and community care facilities for the elderly also contracted slightly, albeit far less than nursing homes.

    Hospital employment declined by an estimated 3,900 jobs last month as COVID-19 cases crept steadily up. The U.S. recorded roughly 20,500 new COVID-19 cases on Oct. 31, compared with almost 130,000 on Dec. 1, a more than six-fold increase.

    Home health care shed an estimated 300 jobs last month after a strong October in which the sector hired more than 19,000 workers. Employment in that sector is still has not rebounded from the beginning of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

    Yet some healthcare subsectors have seen employment rise above pre-pandemic levels, such as outpatient care centers and dental clinics.Offices of other healthcare practitioners—a category that includes chiropractors, optometrists, mental health providers and physical therapists and others—recorded the biggest job gains in November, having made an estimated 6,800 new hires. That follows a strong October in which these providers added 8,200 jobs. Other healthcare practitioner employment is higher than it was before the pandemic.

    The overall economy added an estimated 210,000 jobs in November, far fewer than economists had expected and less than half of October's increase of 546,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked down 0.4 percentage points to 4.2%.

    Professional and business services saw the most job growth, adding an estimated 90,000 positions last month; that sector is still 69,000 jobs below its February 2020 total. Transportation and warehousing added an estimated 50,000 jobs in November, and is now 210,000 jobs above its February 2020 level. Construction employment grew by an estimated 31,000 jobs in November, although employment in that sector is 115,000 lower than during February 2020.

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        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
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