Although the unemployment rate sits at 3.8% as of Friday, the healthcare industry remains an outlier.
According to seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare has a ratio of 0.7 unemployed persons per job opening. Approximately 1.5 jobs exist for every individual seeking employment in healthcare.
The national unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 3.8% in August.
“That increase was mostly driven by a rise in people entering the labor force rather than more workers losing their jobs,” wrote Nick Bunker, head of economic research for the Indeed Hiring Lab.
The healthcare industry led the economy, with 71,000 jobs gained in August, “following a gain of similar magnitude in the prior month,” according to the BLS. Nursing and
residential care facilities added 17,000 jobs last month. Ambulatory healthcare services added 40,000 jobs, and hospitals added 15,000.
Employment in leisure and hospitality also continued to trend upward in August, with the addition of 40,000 jobs. This number is below the industry’s average gain of 61,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months. Employment in leisure and hospitality remains 1.7% below its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Wage growth is moderating, according to BLS data. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% month over month, compared with a 4.3% average hourly earnings increase over the past 12 months.
“American workers got smaller pay increases in August. That could be welcome news for policymakers at the Federal Reserve,” the New York Times reported. “For policymakers, a cooler pace of wage growth — if it is sustained — would be an encouraging sign that the labor market is coming off the boil.”
