Dive Brief:

• The health care industry added 34,000 jobs in May, twice its average monthly growth for the prior 12 months, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospitals gained 7,000 jobs in May, and ambulatory care services added about 23,000 jobs last month.
• The hospital sector alone did well in first-quarter 2014, according to a June 9 briefing paper by Oppenheimer Equity Research. The securities analysts cited solid Medicaid trends, which they expect to improve further as more people enroll in Medicaid and more states agree to its expansion under reform. They expect significant growth in exchange trends down the road, too.
• Medicaid expansion should help annualized 2014 earnings-per-share growth for HCA by six cents, for example, Oppenheimer said. But the firm sees longer-term opportunity from new states' Medicaid expansion as much larger, representing 40 cents EPS for HCA.

Dive Insight:

Oppenheimer analysts said Q1 financial results "are just the start of a major multi-year opportunity" for hospitals. That, plus the reportedly better addition of new jobs in the larger health care industry, seem to bode well as the industry continues broadening from inpatient to outpatient settings.