When the employment picture in the U.S. slightly improved last month, increases in healthcare staffing was one contributing factor, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among the 200,000 nonfarm payroll employment jobs added during the final month of 2011 were 23,000 healthcare jobs, according to the federal agency. Hospitals saw gains of employment of 10,000 during the month of December. During the past year, employment opportunities within the healthcare industry gained 315,000.
Last month also saw a decrease in the nation’s unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In addition to jobs increasing in the healthcare industry, other segments of society that also saw gains were transportation and warehousing, retail trade, manufacturing and mining.
Between August and early January, the jobless rate in the U.S. has dropped 0.6 percent.
December saw the unemployment rate fall to 8 percent for men. The unemployment rate for women, 7.9 percent, changed little during the month.
According to the Phoenix Business Journal, the metropolitan region of New York has roughly 56,600 health care and social assistance firms. Those firms create healthcare jobs for approximately 1.3 million workers, both of these figures are the highest in the nation.