U.S. healthcare sector adds 67,000 jobs in February

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest Employment Situation report revealed that the healthcare segment experienced a 67,000-job surge in February 2024, outpacing the average monthly gain of 58,000 over the previous 12 months.
Various subsectors contributed to this surge in healthcare employment. Ambulatory healthcare services, which include physicians’ offices and outpatient care centers, added 28,000 jobs.
Hospitals also experienced upticks, with 28,000 new positions created. Furthermore, the nursing and residential care facilities sector expanded by 11,000 jobs.
The healthcare industry’s remarkable job growth reflects the increasing demand for medical services, driven by an aging population and the need to replace medical frontliners who left the field in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the BLS, employment in healthcare occupations is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations from 2022 to 2032, with an estimated 1.8 million job openings each year.
Beyond healthcare, the overall U.S. job market experienced robust growth in February 2024. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000, surpassing the average monthly gain of 230,000 over the prior 12 months.
Significant job gains were also observed in the government, food services, social assistance, and transportation and warehousing sectors.
However, 16 U.S. states are still catching up with pre-pandemic worker counts. Based on Bloomberg’s analysis of the February 2024 labor data, more than 1 million fewer people total were employed in February 2024 compared to February 2020.
The 16 states trailing their own 2020 employment levels are:
- California (down 410,408 workers)
- New York (down 159,301 workers)
- Maryland (down 137,797 workers)
- Illinois (down 74,800 workers)
- Ohio (down 64,233 workers)
- Massachusetts (down 52,130 workers)
- Kentucky (down 36,696 workers)
- Connecticut (down 36,466 workers)
- Iowa (down 30,177 workers)
- Hawaii (down 20,968 workers)
- New Hampshire (down 12,141 workers)
- Minnesota (down 10,304 workers)
- Mississippi (down 9,896 workers)
- Maine (down 5,814 workers)
- Indiana (down 1,895 workers)
- Washington (down 945 workers)