Health-Care Hiring Slows to Smallest Gain Since 2022, Raising Questions for U.S. Job Growth
Divergent measures alongside fewer openings signal cooling demand in a sector constrained by licensed-worker shortages.
Overview
- BLS data show health care and social assistance added about 47,000 jobs in August, the smallest monthly increase since January 2022.
- Excluding health care, the U.S. economy has shed more than 140,000 jobs over the past four months.
- ADP reports education and health services headcount contracted in August for a fifth consecutive month.
- July BLS job openings for health care fell to the lowest level in more than four years.
- BLS details reveal declines in dentists, vocational rehabilitation, and outpatient care, while hospitals, physicians’ offices, and nursing/residential care grew, as analysts note a widening ADP–BLS gap and recruiters cite tight supply for licensed roles.