Healthcare hiring strong in May, job report shows

Healthcare hiring remained strong in in May despite a slight dip from the previous month as employers anticipate an eventual lack of COVID-19 funding and as cases and hospitalizations slowly stabilize, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Friday.

Employers in the sector added an estimated 28,300 jobs last month, down from 36,800 positions in April, preliminary data show. The industry contributed to 390,000 hires across the economy in May.

The overall jobless rate has remained the same for the past few months at 3.6%, with around 6 million people still unemployed in May. The jobless rate was 3.5% in February 2020, the month before the pandemic began in the U.S.

An estimated 1.8 million people reported being unable to work last month due to closures or lost business linked to the pandemic, a number essentially unchanged from April.