The healthcare labor market continues to bleed jobs as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic persists.
According to a new release from the Labor Statistics OfficeThe number of healthcare workers fell by 30,000 in January, with care facilities, home health services and community care facilities for the elderly recording losses. Since last February, the healthcare industry has cut 542,000 jobs.
The economic impact is not limited to the health sector. The number of unemployed fell by 10.1 million to 6.3 percent. The office notes that while this is an improvement from April, unemployment is well above what it was before the pandemic broke out.
Overall, non-farm employment increased 49,000 jobs in January, but the market is still down 9.9 million jobs, or 6.5 percent, from last February, the press release said.
The unemployment figures follow a recent study from the Joint Commission, which has collected the comments of more than 2,000 healthcare workers on the causes of their burnout.
The most common problems cited by health organizations across all sectors were the need for increased communication with staff, increased working from home and staff shortages.
