Dive Brief:
- U.S. healthcare spending increased at more than three times the rate of the rest of the economy during this year's third quarter.
- Healthcare spending was up 4.7% compared to this time last year, while the general economy was up 1.5% compared to this time last year, according to a report on the third-quarter gross domestic product released last week by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- The high growth occurred as healthcare hiring increased at a "breakneck pace," as Modern Healthcare notes.
Dive Insight:
While the comparison is compelling, analysts caution against it given the overall GDP can vary so significantly month to month.
The industry should instead focus on hiring, health economist Paul Hughes-Cromwick of Altarum Institute, told Modern Healthcare.
Altarum's own labor study concludes healthcare jobs increased 3.2% while general employment increased 1.8%. "The health share of total employment has increased each month so far in 2015 and reached 10.69% in September, a new all-time high," the Altarum report stated.