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Health care adds 30,900 jobs in January

U.S. economy opens 2012 with better-than-expected jobs report

Topics: Staffing, Labor Expense, Workforce, Workforce Planning, Recruitment and Retention

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February 03, 2012

The health care sector added 30,900 jobs in January, as the overall U.S. employment market gained momentum, adding 243,000 jobs in the second straight month of better-than-expected gains, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment data.

Overall, the health care sector—which added 315,000 jobs last year—added more jobs in January than in December 2011, when it reported 22,600 payroll additions. (BLS has since revised that number downward to 17,600 new jobs in December.)

Hospitals in January added 12,700 jobs, while ambulatory health care services added 12,900 jobs. In addition, physician offices added 2,700 jobs, outpatient care centers added 4,500 jobs, and home health care services added 1,900 jobs. Meanwhile, nursing and residential care facilities added 5,300 new positions

Despite expectations that job growth would slow in the beginning of 2012, the U.S. economy overall marked its biggest gain in non-farm payroll since April 2011. According to the BLS report, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January, reaching its lowest point since February 2009.

The new jobs numbers come after BLS' 2020 employment projections, which identified health care as the fastest-growing employment sector. Based on the projections, health care is expected to gain more than 5.6 million jobs from 2010 to 2020 (BLS report, 2/3; Mitchell/Sparshott, Wall Street Journal, 2/3; Rich, New York Times, 2/3).

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