As the Business & Media Institute's Julia Seymour previously reported, the September unemployment data just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed a larger than expected decline in non-farm payrolls.
Yet, as employers shed another 263,000 workers, the healthcare industry ADDED -- yes, ADDED!!! -- 19,000 employees.
As NewsBusters reported last month, the healthcare industry, despite dire warnings from Democrats and their media minions that it's in a crisis, continues to add to payrolls month after month during this recession.
As the BLS noted in Friday's Employment Situation Summary:
Employment in health care continued to increase in September (19,000), with the largest gain occurring in ambulatory health care services (15,000). Health care has added 559,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession, although the average monthly job gain thus far in 2009 (22,000) is down from the average monthly gain during 2008 (30,000).
Here's how the healthcare jobs gains since the start of this recession looks graphically:
Compare that to the entire non-farm labor market which has now shed 7.2 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007:
How will the Obama-loving, healthcare reform pushing news media report this in the coming days as they continue to tell the country the stimulus is working AND one of the strongest industries in the country desperately needs fixing?
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How can this be?!!!
October 2, 2009 - 09:13 ET by P. AaronI thought Obama created the sun, the moon, the earth, the heavens and all JOBS!
Facts don't matter to
October 2, 2009 - 09:15 ET by mattmFacts don't matter to libs. The healthcare issue is not about healthcare, it's about the continuing attempt by the far left to turn America into a socialist dictatorship.
→ What a surprise!
October 2, 2009 - 09:22 ET by Cool ArrowWho'd a' thunk healthcare would continue to grow as people get older?
Nursing's one of those professions that always has a shortage. Many, already trained years ago, are returning to nursing as their non-healthcare jobs are cut back.
Just about every health
October 2, 2009 - 14:51 ET by samhermanmdJust about every health care profession is in the midst of a shortage, from nursing to medicine to pharmacy. Being a board member of a local hospital, I see first hand how our institution's hiring is difficult and expensive.
Look at the way treatment has changed from inpatient hospitalization to more intense outpatient therapy. Sheer patient volume has increased, and it is more difficult to handle increased patient loads without additional professionals.
A primary care physician shortage is expected in the next 5-15 year time horizon, and it will only get worse if a public option is adopted. There are so many professionals leaving socialized medicine in their home countries to come here, but it is not enough to fill the projected shortages.
Hiow will they report...
October 2, 2009 - 09:25 ET by CobraMan"How will the Obama-loving, healthcare reform pushing news media report this in the coming days as they continue to tell the country the stimulus is working AND one of the strongest industries in the country desperately needs fixing?"
I wonder how they will report the massive lay-offs that will occur once their vaunted "heath care reform' starts price fixing the industry?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Oh, wait...
October 2, 2009 - 09:31 ET by CobraManOh, wait, I forgot, the liberals consider health care as a right, not a service, so the Heath Care provider system is more of an advocacy than an industry. So, "emploment" numbers don't count.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Wake Up People!
October 2, 2009 - 09:57 ET by Hunter12The Democrats aren't doing anything to help the job market. If you look at the stimulus plan, all the shovel-ready provisions that could provide jobs now are two or three years out. As more people lose their jobs, the hope is that they will embrace Obamacare as the only avenue to protect their families' health. The two things are hand-and-glove. Lose your job, lose your insurance, embarce government-run healthcare.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Re Wake Up
October 2, 2009 - 10:22 ET by slickwillie2001Yep; Rahm Emanuel: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
It's not a big leap from that to perhaps –'let's let this crisis stretch on a little longer until we have pushed all of our programs through.'
You know the answer
October 2, 2009 - 09:28 ET by BlondeIt's George Bush's fault!
I hope he fails, too.
Openings
October 2, 2009 - 09:52 ET by sevenHealthcare has had a million openings. It is countercyclical. Healthcare workers leave healthcare. In some states, the average RN grad leaves nursing withing 24 months of graduation. When they get laid off in other work, they come back to a stable industry. When hubby is laid off, nurses go back to work and also go full time. Now hospitals pay less overtime. Don't take it as recent growth in healthcare.
Next issue is millions getting laid off. They hustle to get a little surgery and doctor visit before their insurance is switched off. Most companies pay employee insurance to the end of the month. You have several weeks if laid off early in the month before your policy is at risk.
I disagree completely, and
October 2, 2009 - 18:13 ET by samhermanmdI disagree completely, and I have been in practice for over 25 years and my background includes epidemiology in addition to clinical experience.
The facts are simple: an aging population with more complex medical needs; supply failing to meet demand in multiple health professions; and an aging health care workforce. I am treating twice as many patients in my solo practice than twenty years ago, and treatment paradigms have changed dramatically requiring more use of allied health professionals. We may be doing a better job with certain cardiovascular diseases, but we have lost ground in infectious diseases, lung disorders and certain forms of cancer. Add to that the increases in obesity, type II diabetes in younger populations and increases in certain genetic disorders and you hardly have a countercyclical situation in terms of medical need.
The need for trained health care professionals is greater now than in the past two decades. There are critical shortages in high-need professions like nursing and pharmacy, and there are not enough qualified graduates to take the places of those who are retiring for various reasons. Now is a good time to supplement your retirement income if you maintained your professional license, because most areas simply cannot keep up with demand.
Curious
October 2, 2009 - 20:31 ET by stratmanPlease explain what you meant about lost ground in lung disorders and certain forms of cancer.
We have yet to make
October 2, 2009 - 22:16 ET by samhermanmdWe have yet to make significant progress in pancreatic, hepatic and other forms of cancer. Even though we have new medications, survival time is not prolonged to the extent where we can say the therapies are much better than in the past, compared to therapies used for some forms of leukemia and other solid tumors (e.g. prostate, testicular, breast). Thankfully, more money is being spent on cancer than previously.
The rates of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and asthma are up alarmingly. It is difficult to tell if we are doing a better job of detecting these illnesses or if we are experiencing disease advances in the population. We have yet to make significant progress beyond beta agonists, steroids and other immunomodulators to treat both illnesses. We have longer-acting medications, but they are still not true pharmacological advances. Even with smoking down, COPD remains a huge problem because of the limited treatment avenues we have.
We have also reached a plateau in infectious diseases, where there are few new antibiotics being developed and the superbugs, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, are being encountered in the community more than in the past. There are just not that many new antibiotics being developed, and our arsenal against them is shrinking fast.
In my own field, medical science has reached some great advances in treating psychosis and depression, but there is still more to be discovered and developed.
Medical science has come a long way, but still has a long way to go.
→ Dr H
October 2, 2009 - 22:22 ET by Cool ArrowI'm curious. Are there diseases that occur more often today as a result of elongated lifespans among patients whose illnesses would not have allowed them to reach childbearing years in years gone by?
I'm talking about inherited diseases.
I agree about losing ground
October 3, 2009 - 14:31 ET by stratmanI agree about losing ground with infectious diseases. A focus on developing new classes of antibiotics appears to be lacking. The overuse of antibiotics, primarily in the ambulatory setting, is a contributing factor. Subsequently, multidrug-resistent organisms (MDRO) are quite worrisome. Bugs are pretty good at adapting and the overuse of antibiotics is speeding up the process - fluoroquinolones are a recent example.
I do not agree, however, concerning respiratory diseases and cancer. In general, we are holding ground and in some areas advancing with respect to improved diagnostic and treatment rates which may decrease disease burden.
I do not consider Medicine as losing ground when the population does things that increases their risk for disease or genetics come into play. When the patient leaves the exam room they will do what they will do. We may be obligated to repeatedly attempt to inform patients of bad diagnostic results, for instance, but we should not take on the burden of their poor lifestyle choices and socioeconomic situations as a measure of ground held, lost or advanced.
In the same light, the difficulties in advancing medical knowledge through research can not be used as a cudgel against Medicine for not having more breakthroughs in treatments. We're not losing ground with respiratory diseases and cancers, we're working like gangbusters to do as much as we can for more people than ever before, sometimes making great strides, other times in a holding pattern.
We need more health pros--and not just bec of uninsured
October 2, 2009 - 10:29 ET by StarAZIf the uninsured are slapped into the system and half the docs bail, then what? And today I blogged about how stressed America is--this has to be causing illnesses. My blog is http://hopeycopey.blogspot.com.
It would not click for me off this, but maybe you can put it in manually if you are interested.
Actually, this is good for
October 2, 2009 - 11:23 ET by ElyasActually, this is good for the left. When most of the country is suffering, they can turn to the healthcare industry and say , "See, profits are evil and how are they growing in a recession! They must be regulated and controlled for fairness!"
just goes to show
October 2, 2009 - 12:25 ET by WatchesThis is great! What our country needs is jobs, and health care is hiring. Attempts to cut our health care costs are misguided. We need to INCREASE our health care costs! Now THAT would be an economic stimulus!