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BLS Reports February Job Growth: Health Care

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for the month of February continued to remain relatively unchanged registering at 4.8%. Job growth continued to expand in health care and food services, while employment declined in construction, retail trade, as well as manufacturing – in particular, durable goods manufacturing. According to BLS, the employment trend within the health care industry saw, over the month, a gain of 36,000 jobs. Specifically, the industry saw growth within hospitals (17,000) as well as ambulatory care services (15,000). Over the year, the health care industry added 360,000 jobs. Conversely, the number of manufacturing jobs continued to decline in February with a loss of 52,000 jobs, bringing losses over the past 12 months to 299,000. In addition, February saw employment in retail trade register a decrease of 34,000 jobs. Construction also shows a decrease of 39,000 in February, and has fallen by 331,000 since its most recent peak in September 2006. According to BLS, during this period, residential specialty trades lost 209,000 jobs, while residential building lost 137,000 jobs.