business
Jobs in physician offices taper off
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 16, 2012
The number of people who work in physician offices declined in June, breaking an 18-month streak of continuous job growth in this segment of the health care industry, according to a report issued July 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About 2,425,100 people were working in physician offices in June, a reduction of 3,400 from May figures. The number of jobs in physician offices last declined in November 2010. The figures are not broken down by occupation, but include physicians as well as clinical and administrative staff.
The health sector as a whole generally has been a source of new jobs, even during the 2007-09 recession. There are signs, however, that recovery is slowing and the health industry is being affected.
The economy added only 80,000 jobs in June and 69,000 in May. The unemployment rate in June held at 8.2% for the second straight month. The health care industry added 13,000 jobs in June, down from the 33,300 created in May.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/16/bibf0716.htm.