Healthcare gains 143K jobs in 2021

By Melanie Blackman, strategy editor, HealthLeaders

The healthcare sector once again showed little change in employment numbers in December, according to the newest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report, issued last week.

In December, healthcare lost 3,100 jobs. While the ambulatory services sector saw an increase of 8,100 jobs, it was offset by declines in the hospital sector (-5,100) and nursing and residential care facilities (-6,100), BLS data shows.

The healthcare sector employed 16.04 million people in December, with minimal overall change since December 2020 (16.03 million).

Since the beginning of the year, the healthcare sector gained 143,800 jobs, but is still down 449,500 jobs since pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.

Since February 2020, the ambulatory sector gained 66,800 jobs, while hospitals lost 95,600 jobs, and nursing and residential care facilities lost 420,700 jobs.

The overall U.S. labor market gained 199,000 nonfarm jobs in December, with average job growth of 537,000 per month in 2021, according to BLS data.

Overall, the economy gained 6.2 million nonfarm jobs in 2021, but still remains 3.6 million (2.3%) lower than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Source: HealthLeaders