Healthcare hiring rose in April, jobs report shows

Healthcare hiring accelerated in April even as ongoing staff shortages continue to challenge the industry, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Friday.

Employers in the sector added an estimated 34,300 jobs last month, up from 23,300 in March, preliminary data show. The healthcare industry contributed to 428,000 hires made across the economy in April.

Physician offices, home health providers and hospitals saw the largest gains among healthcare employers.

Over the past year, the healthcare sector has added 229,000 jobs. While the industry is still down 250,000 positions, about 1.5%, from February 2020, healthcare employment is the highest it has been since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Physician practices added 9,800 jobs and home health providers hired 7,800 workers last month. Both subsectors employ more people than prior to the pandemic.

Hospitals made 4,500 hires, but are still down nearly 100,000 jobs since COVID-19 arrived.

Residential mental health facilities experienced their largest hiring increase since September 2020 by adding 3,400 employees. Medical and diagnostic laboratories made 2,500 hires and employed 27,400 more people than prior to the pandemic.Community care facilities for the elderly lost 1,100 jobs in April. Other residential care facilities—including group homes for foster youth, delinquent youth and people with disabilities—shed 1,300 jobs last month.

Hiring by nursing care facilities was fairly stagnant at 900 jobs, as these employers continue to struggle with staffing shortages.

The overall jobless rate held steady at 3.6%, with 5.9 million people unemployed in April. The unemployment rate has been below 4% for three consecutive months, illustrating the rebound from pandemic highs. In February 2020, the jobless rate was 3.5%.

An estimated 1.7 million people reported being unable to work last month due to closures or lost business linked to the pandemic, down from 2.5 million in March.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised its February and March data. Healthcare companies made 15,000 more hires in March than previously reported, according to the agency. Overall, the economy added 39,000 fewer jobs in February and March than the BLS originally estimated.

Leisure and hospitality reported the largest gains with an estimated 78,000 new jobs in April, followed by manufacturing employers, which made 55,000 hires. The transportation and warehousing sector added 52,000 jobs, the third-highest among all industries.