Healthcare accounts for 10.7 percent of total U.S. employment: Report

A report from the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based non-profit research organization Altarum Institute shows that private sector healthcare employment in the United States in the month of January accounted for an all-time high of 10.7 percent of total employment, which also marks an increase of more than one percentage point since the start of the recession in December 2007.

The increase is particularly significant since over the same period, while healthcare employment rose 6.3 percent, employment in other sectors fell by 6.8 percent cumulatively, keeping the overall unemployment rate in the economy hovering at 9 percent.

It's clear from these data that the health sector has helped stabilize the economy and buttressed overall employment following the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression... we believe the health sector share is likely to peak in the near future, said Dr. Charles Roehrig, the Director of Altarum's Center for Studying Health Spending.

The report released by Altarum Institute's Center for Studying Health Spending is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau had earlier projected that given the aging American population and increased life expectancies, the healthcare and social assistance industry would account for 26 percent of overall employment generated in the country over the period 2008-2018, which would mean creation of 4 million new jobs.

(Also see our slideshow on the fastest growing careers and job opportunities in the healthcare sector.)