Employment in U.S. Health Care Industry Projected to Increase

Healthcare is one of the few sectors in the U.S. that is creating jobs now and is projected to add more jobs in the future.

The Unemployment rate in the U.S. rose to 10.2% in October as per the latest data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The sectors which had the largest job losses were construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. Another 558,000 persons joined the unemployed which now stands at 15.7 million in this country.

US-Unemployment-rate

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Health Care industry added 29,000 new jobs in October. Health care is one of the bright spots in the economy for job growth since the recession that started about 23 months ago. The industry has added a total of 597,000 jobs since the start of recession. Healthcare sector employs nearly 13.7 million people in the U.S.

The BLS states:

“Before 1960, about 3 percent of private-sector workers were employed in heath care establishments. In recent years, the proportion of workers employed in private-sector health services has exceeded 11 percent.”

Healthcare-job-growth

As America’s 78.2 million baby boomers retire in the next few years they will require more health care services.  In addition to the baby boomers, the general increase in population, technological advances in the medical field, increased stress levels among the general population, new diseases, etc. are going to create the need for additional health care services as well. Though health care is a highly regulated field, there will be plenty of potential for anyone interested in making a career in this field.

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