During the second month of 2013, the healthcare industry continued its long trend of adding jobs, gaining 32,000, according to the employment numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning.
Ambulatory care services increased by 13,700, including 4,300 jobs in doctors’ offices and 8,900 in hospitals. Nursing and residential care facilities rebounded by 9,400 after a loss of 8,400 jobs in January.
Across all industries, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in February and the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent. The number of long-term unemployed was once again essentially unchanged at 4.8 million, accounting for 40.2 percent of those who are unemployed.
In addition to the healthcare sector, industries leading job growth included professional and business services (73,000 jobs), construction (48,000 jobs) and the information industry (more than 20,000 jobs). The information industry’s gain, reported the BLS, was due to an increase of 20,800 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry.
Retail trade, food services and drinking places and wholesale also trended up while other major industries showed little change.
While economists told major news outlets that the jobs numbers boded well for the economy, they also cautioned that the effects of the sequester could hamper employment growth in the coming months.