While news outlets pointed out the disappointing June jobs numbers Friday, the healthcare sector continued to add jobs, gaining more than 13,000.
On the surface, the jobs numbers in healthcare may look good but not all is rosy.
The sector did add jobs in June, but the numbers were not hefty and while most sectors in healthcare gained some small margin from May to June – 3,700 jobs in hospitals, 4,500 in nursing and residential care facilities – physicians’ offices lost 3,400.
In addition to the growth in healthcare jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported growth in wholesale trade (more than 9,000), manufacturing (more than 11,000) and professional and business services (47,000).
Employment in other major industries, such as mining and logging, construction, government, leisure and hospitality and finance, showed little or no change.
Some news reports noted that it was expected the BLS would report the economy had added about 100,000 jobs in June. The BLS reported that the economy added about 80,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, and, for the second consecutive month, the country’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 8.2 percent.
According to several stories from the national news media, the gap between what was expected and what was reported has resulted in gloomy economic projections for the rest of the year from economists and political positioning from the presidential candidates, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate.