May 2017 Health Sector Economic Indicators Briefs

The health care sector added 19,500 new jobs in April, putting the average for the first 4 months of 2017 at just under 20,000 jobs per month, a considerable decrease from the 32,000 per month seen in 2015 and 2016. Slow growth is occurring across the board, from hospitals to ambulatory care settings. National health spending growth in March remained moderate at 5.3%, year over year. However, spending as a percent of GDP reached an all-time high at just below 18.4%, suggesting that while our efforts to control health care spending are partly successful, without a burst in economic growth, health care spending will fail to become sustainable.

The health care sector added 19,500 new jobs in April, putting the average for the first 4 months of 2017 at just under 20,000 jobs per month, a considerable decrease from the 32,000 per month seen in 2015 and 2016. Slow growth is occurring across the board, from hospitals to ambulatory care settings. National health spending growth in March remained moderate at 5.3%, year over year. However, spending as a percent of GDP reached an all-time high at just below 18.4%, suggesting that while our efforts to control health care spending are partly successful, without a burst in economic growth, health care spending will fail to become sustainable.