WASHINGTON – Employment in the U.S. healthcare sector increased by approximately 29,000 jobs in October, while the national unemployment rate grew to 10.2 percent, according to recent data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The biggest healthcare job gains were in ambulatory care and hospitals. Approximately 12,500 of the 29,000 new healthcare jobs were in the ambulatory care sector and 10,000 in hospitals.
Overall employment in nursing and residential care facilities increased by approximately 6,000 jobs in October.
The BLS reports that the healthcare industry has added 597,000 jobs since the start of the recession.
Overall, non-farm payroll employment fell by 190,000 jobs in October and the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million.
The national unemployment rate is now the highest since April 1983.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percent points.
