Dive Brief:
- While overall healthcare employment remained virtually unchanged last month, the hospital industry saw a significant drop in jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- While healthcare as a whole lost just 400 net jobs last month, hospitals lost 4,500 employees; that's on top of a 4,700 job loss in December.
- While hospitals saw consistent job losses over the past two months, ambulatory healthcare services added a substantial 9,000 jobs.
Dive Insight:
The lost hospital jobs are particularly significant given that overall employment in the U.S. rose by 113,000 in January. The many forces pushing down hospital revenues -- and in some cases, driving them into severe financial trouble -- are clearly stronger than overall business trends. Given these trends, it seems that hospitals are going to have to make some very hard choices in coming months as to whether they will cut staff.