August 2020 Health Sector Economic Indicators Briefs

Altarum's monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators (HSEI) briefs analyze the most recent data available on health sector employment, spending, prices, and utilization—helping to fill gaps in the official government data.

Our August 2020 briefs show that national health spending continued to rebound in June, and health care regained half of jobs lost in spring, although the pace of recovery has slowed. Health care price growth trended higher through July amid a rebound in spending. 

• National health spending in June 2020 was 5.1% lower than in June 2019, at $3.62 trillion (seasonally adjusted annual rate), and the June 2020 nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.9% lower than in June 2019.
• In July, healthcare added 125,500 jobs. Combined with more than 650,000 in May and June, the health sector has regained 50% of the 1.58 million jobs lost in March and April.
• The economy overall gained 1.76 million jobs in June and has regained 42% of the jobs lost since February, while the unemployment rate fell from 11.1% to 10.2%.