March 2015 Health Sector Economic Indicators Briefs

Preliminary estimates indicate that national health spending grew by 5.7% in January 2015 compared with January 2014, suggesting that the strong growth in the latter half of 2014 is carrying forward into the new year. Spending on prescription drugs continued its double-digit growth at 11.6%. Health care prices in January 2015 were 1.2% higher than in January 2014, dramatically lower than the December year-over-year change of 1.8%. And the health sector added 23,800 new jobs in February 2015, below the average growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2014 (39,000) and the January 2015 level (40,000).