Health care added 22,000 jobs in July, well below the 36,000 average monthly gain of the previous year, and hospital payrolls were essentially flat with a decline of roughly 400 positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the slowdown alongside a broader jobs report in which total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 23,000.
For most of the past three years, health care has been the sector propping up national job growth while others contracted. That role has not disappeared, but it has weakened noticeably. The sector added 42,000 jobs in June and 35,000 in May before July's figure.
