Hospitals lead job gains in health care as national figures show employment growth

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The national unemployment rate inched downward to 3.6% for June, down 0.1% from May.

Health care added 41,100 jobs last month, with hospital hiring up but dentists’ offices losing workers, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Nationally, employment grew by 209,000 jobs in June, with more jobs added in government, social assistance, and construction, according to the preliminary figures. That figure was down from the average monthly nonfarm employment growth of 278,000 jobs per month in the first half of 2023. So far this year’s monthly average is lower than the average of 399,000 jobs added per month in 2022, according to the BLS report.

Health care

Hospitals added 15,000 jobs, ambulatory health care services grew by 13,800 jobs, and nursing and residential care facilities increased staff by 12,300, according to the BLS figures.

Additional gains came in home health care services (8,800 jobs), offices of physicians (6,100 jobs), and offices of other health practitioners (5,000 jobs.) Offices of dentists cut 6,800 jobs, while medical and diagnostic laboratories dipped by 800 positions.

More jobs by sector

State governments added 27,000 posts and local governments grew by 32,000 jobs in June. Government jobs have grown by an average of 63,000 jobs a month so far this year, more than double the average growth of 23,000 jobs a month in 2022. Even so, government employment is down 161,000 positions, or 0.7%, from the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020, according to BLS.

Individual and family services added 18,000 jobs in June, leading job growth of 24,000 positions in social assistance for June. Social assistance has averaged 22,000 jobs a month so far this year, topping average monthly growth of 19,000 jobs in 2022.

There were 23,000 jobs added in construction, topping this year’s monthly average of 15,000 jobs and the 2022 monthly average of 22,000. Residential specialty trade contractors grew by 10,000 jobs, according to the BLS figures.

The professional and business services sector and leisure and hospitality sector each grew by 21,000 jobs last month, while retail trade lost 11,000 jobs and transportation and warehousing declined by 7,000 jobs. Despite the respective gains and losses, those sectors “changed little in June,” according to BLS.

Responses

The BLS report was published July 7, the same day President Joe Biden touted “Bidenomics” in statements about the unemployment rate and a new crackdown on loopholes in health insurance plans known as short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI).

The national jobless rate has been less than 4% for 17 months in a row, the longest stretch since the 1960s, with more Americans working and inflating creeping down, the president said.

“We are seeing stable and steady growth,” the president said in a statement. “That’s Bidenomics – growing the economy by creating jobs, lowering costs for hardworking families, and making smart investments in America.”

The June BLS figures came in lower than analysts’ expectations and showed the economy added the fewest jobs per month since Biden took office, said a statement by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

“Joe Biden said he’s ‘turning things around quickly,’ but wages and savings are down, prices are up, and American families are worse off since Biden took office. That’s a recession for the middle class, and the result of Bidenomics," McDaniel’s statement said.