Healthcare hiring continues to increase
Industry added jobs again in March 2013
Job growth in the healthcare industry continued its climb as winter turned to spring. The industry added jobs again in March 2013, increasing employment by 23,400 positions.
Over the past 12 months, healthcare industry employment has grown by 295,000 jobs.
According to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest healthcare job gains were in ambulatory healthcare settings and at hospitals.
[See also: Healthcare jobs continue to increase at start of 2013.]
The dominant job growth area in ambulatory care was in home healthcare services, which added 6,800 jobs. Physician offices added 1,000 jobs, while outpatient care centers boosted employment by 3,200 jobs.
Employment at hospitals rose by 7,900 in March.
Nursing and residential care facilities also increased hiring in March, although at a much slower pace,, adding 200 jobs.
Overall, total non-farm payroll employment increased by 88,000 in March, and the national unemployment rate remained relatively unchanged, falling 0.1 percentage points to 7.6 percent. The total number of unemployed persons fell by 290,000 to 11.7 million.
The national labor force, currently at 155 million, decreased by approximately 500,000 from February to March.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 or more weeks) declined by 186,000 to 4.6 million. The long-term unemployed currently make up about 39.6 percent of unemployed persons.
