Healthcare employment up in March

Editor's Note

Healthcare employment in the US rose by 54,000 from March to April, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), released on April 4. That is compared to an overall monthly gain of 228,000 in March. The healthcare numbers are in line with the average monthly gain of 52,000 over the past 12 months, while the overall figure is higher than the average monthly gain of 158,000 over the past 12 months.

In March, healthcare employment also trended up in:

• ambulatory healthcare services rose by 20,000
• hospital employment rose by 17,000
• nursing and residential care facilities rose by 17,000

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little, , according to a BLS news release. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024.