Topics
More on Workforce

Healthcare adds 22,000 jobs in March as hiring slows

Like in previous months, growth in ambulatory healthcare led hiring for the sector with 19,000 jobs added in ambulatory care.

Like in previous months, growth in ambulatory healthcare led hiring for the sector with 19,000 jobs added in ambulatory care.

Healthcare employers added 22,000 jobs in March, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday, just slightly less than the 24,000 added in February and much less than the 38,000 added in January, suggesting a slight slowdown in hiring in the sector.

Healthcare has added a total of 363,000 jobs in the past year, the report said.

[Also: Healthcare adds jobs in February]

Like in previous months, growth in ambulatory healthcare led hiring for the sector with 19,000 jobs added in ambulatory care. Hospitals added 8,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, nursing care facilities lost 6,000 jobs in the past month.

Overall, the U.S. economy added 126,000 jobs in March while the nation’s unemployment rate held flat at 5.5 percent, with healthcare being one of the sectors continuing to grow jobs in the country.

Here’s the seasonally adjusted breakdown for the healthcare sector. All numbers are in thousands:

Industry March. 2014 Jan. 2015 Feb. 2015 March 2015 Change
Industry March. 2014 Jan. 2015 Feb. 2015 March 2015 Change
Health care 14,589.5 14,902.7 14,930.0 14,952.3 22.3
Ambulatory health care services(1) 6,572.6 6,785.5 6,806.1 6,825.3 19.2
Offices of physicians 2,453.1 2,515.6 2,523.7 2,529.8 6.1
Outpatient care centers 699.0 728.6 729.0 732.3 3.3
Home health care services 1,244.8 1,291.8 1,296.4 1,302.4 6.0
Hospitals 4,769.0 4,828.5 4,838.3 4,846.2 7.9
Nursing and residential care facilities(1) 3,247.9 3,288.7 3,285.6 3,280.8 -4.8
Nursing care facilities 1,648.7 1,656.9 1,654.3 1,648.3 -6.0

Twitter: @HenryPowderly