February 2016 Health Sector Economic Indicators Briefs

Preliminary estimates show health spending grew only 4.9% in December 2015 compared to December 2014, continuing a steady decline from a peak of 6.8% in February 2015. Spending on hospitals and prescription drugs, each of which is growing at less than half the rate observed in February, led the decline. Health care prices in December 2015 were 1.2% higher than in December 2014, up from 1.1% in November, exhibiting an upward trend from its all-time low rate of 0.9% in September 2015. And the health sector added a robust 36,800 new jobs in January, a quarter of all new non-farm jobs. Nearly two-thirds were in hospitals, which added 23,700 jobs, twice as many as the 12,000 jobs added in December.