Annual Change in HC&SA Regional Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted, change from Dec. to Dec.)

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the May issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 2: Regional and Sectoral Employment.

The employment picture in the Health Care & Social Assistance (HC&SA) sector brightened considerably in April after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported preliminary estimates that indicated Virginia’s health care industry added 2,000 jobs during the month. Over the past three months, Virginia’s HC&SA sector has added 4,000 jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, nearly replacing all the jobs that were lost in January 2013.

Northern Virginia was the main beneficiary of this uptick in HC&SA employment growth. During the month, 70% of all new HC&SA jobs — 1,400 jobs in total — were added in Northern Virginia, far outpacing the other regions in the state. Regardless, Richmond also managed to add 600 HC&SA jobs in April, and with a year-over-year growth rate of 5.5%, it continues to be the fastest-growing region in the state in terms of HC&SA employment.

Regional highlights are included in the table below:

In April, HC&SA employment growth was concentrated in two subsectors: Ambulatory Health Care Services and Hospitals. Ambulatory Health Care Services was responsible for 1,500 new jobs in April, while Hospitals contributed an additional 900 jobs during the month. These impressive gains were mitigated somewhat by losses in the Social Assistance subsector, which lost 400 jobs in April. So far in 2013, three of Virginia’s four HC&SA subsectors are experiencing positive employment gains; only Nursing & Residential Care Facilities has failed to participate in this trend.

Additional subsector highlights are included in the table below:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Monthly Change in Employment in Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the May issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 1: State and National Employment

According to preliminary estimates, Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance (HC&SA) sector added 2,700 jobs in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, which represents a strong one-month annualized growth rate of 8.4%. This growth represents a dramatic rebound from the subpar results experienced in March, during which 900 HC&SA jobs were lost after accounting for a downward revision of 300 jobs. April was the strongest month for HC&SA employment growth so far in 2013; in fact, given the job losses that the HC&SA sector suffered in January and March, April is solely responsible for the year-to-date job gains seen in Virginia’s health care industry.

Virginia’s HC&SA sector helped to drive overall employment gains in the state economy. Virginia’s total nonfarm payroll increased by 12,100 jobs in April, which represents a one-month annualized growth rate of 3.9%. This was more than double the 1.5% national average for nonfarm payroll during the month. Despite the strength in Virginia’s HC&SA sector in April, however, the share of 12-month employment growth that is attributable to the HC&SA sector fell slightly, but it still accounts for nearly 40% of growth over the past year. In addition, Virginia’s HC&SA sector continues to sport a six-month employment growth moving average of 3.4%, which is well above the 1.2% rate for the rest of the state’s economy.

Other highlights include the following:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Quarterly Change in Total Earnings from Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance Sector (Including Proprietor’s Income, Salaries, Wages and Benefits)

HWDC Releases May Health Workforce Brief Series 3: Income & Compensation

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the May issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 3: Income & Compensation

In Q4 2012, total earnings in Virginia’s HC&SA sector grew by $354 million to $25.1 billion, which represents a three-month annualized growth rate of 5.9%. In addition, total compensation in Virginia’s HC&SA sector grew by $344 million to $22.7 billion, which represents a three-month annualized growth rate of 6.3%. However, HC&SA compensation per employee actually fell slightly during the quarter, declining by $43 to $56,668 per employee.

The HC&SA sector was buoyed by upward revisions to preliminary estimates for Q3 2012. Total HC&SA earnings were revised upward by $415 million, and HC&SA compensation was revised upward by $420 million. Meanwhile, HC&SA compensation per employee was revised upward by a dramatic $1,150, more than compensating for the modest decline seen in Q4 2012.

When taken together, these results represent a strong end of the year for the HC&SA sector. The four-quarter moving average of HC&SA earnings growth reached its highest level since the end of the recession. In addition, despite the relatively poor quarterly results in HC&SA compensation per employee, the year-over-year growth rate rebounded strongly to 2.8% after being in negative territory for three of the past four quarters. Furthermore, salaries and wages in the HC&SA sector grew by 6.3% in 2012, while employee benefits grew by 6.0%.

Other highlights include the following:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Annual Change in HC&SA Subsector Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted, change from Dec. to Dec.)

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the April issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 2: Regional and Sectoral Employment.

According to preliminary estimates, Virginia’s HC&SA sector added to its impressive employment gains in February by adding 200 additional jobs in March on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Meanwhile, February’s preliminary estimate for HC&SA employment was revised downward by 500, but 2,100 jobs were still added in February even after accounting for the revision.

HC&SA employment growth was concentrated in Northern Virginia and the Rest of Virginia; both regions added 500 health care jobs in March. However, these gains were largely wiped out by a loss of 800 combined jobs in Richmond and Hampton Roads. Despite March’s losses, however, Richmond remains the fastest-growing region in the state in terms of HC&SA employment growth over the previous 12 months. On the other hand, both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads have lost more than 1,000 HC&SA jobs during the first quarter of 2013.

Regional highlights are included in the table below:

The employment picture was also mixed with respect to HC&SA subsectors. The Hospitals and Social Assistance subsectors enjoyed strong months, adding a total of 1,400 HC&SA jobs in March, but most of these gains were wiped out by a loss of 1,200 jobs in the Ambulatory Health Care Services and Nursing & Residential Care Facilities subsectors. Thanks to the strong growth in the Social Assistance subsector over the past 12 months — its annual growth rate is currently 9.5% — it now sports the largest share of 12-month employment growth for the first time since 2010. Meanwhile, the Nursing & Residential Care Facilities subsector remains relatively weak, with no employment growth at all over the previous 12 months.

Additional subsector highlights are included in the table below:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Monthly Change in Employment in Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the April issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 1: State and National Employment

After the strong employment gains in February, Virginia’s HC&SA sector experienced a modest pull back in March, losing 600 jobs during the month. In addition, February’s preliminary employment estimate, which indicated that Virginia’s HC&SA sector had added 3,000 jobs, was revised downward by 500 jobs. In total, Virginia’s HC&SA sector has added 300 net jobs during the first quarter of 2013.

Employment in Virginia’s HC&SA sector has been particularly volatile during the first three months of the year, with a loss of 1,600 jobs in January followed by a gain of 2,500 jobs in February. However, despite net gains, employment in Virginia’s health care sector has declined in two of the past three months, which is the first time this has occurred since February 2010. Relative to these swings, the national HC&SA sector has remained stable, with 27,900 jobs produced in March. The national HC&SA sector has not seen a monthly decline in employment in more than three years.

Other highlights include the following:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Annual Change in HC&SA Regional Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted, change from Dec. to Dec.)

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the March issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 2: Regional and Sectoral Employment.

According to preliminary estimates, Virginia’s health care sector added 2,600 jobs in February, which represents a strong one-month annualized growth rate of 8.1%. In addition, January’s preliminary estimate for HC&SA employment was revised upward by 200 jobs. When combined, these figures help to mitigate the heavy employment losses that were suffered by the HC&SA sector in January and suggest that employment growth could remain strong throughout the rest of the year.

Most regions of the state participated in February’s employment growth, especially Hampton Roads and the Rest of Virginia, both of which added 1,300 jobs. Richmond also saw positive employment growth, adding 700 HC&SA jobs in February. Only Northern Virginia failed to participate in the uptrend by losing 700 jobs during the month. With its second consecutive month of HC&SA employment losses, Northern Virginia is now the slowest-growing region in the state in terms of HC&SA employment growth, but its health care sector is still growing faster than the region’s economy as a whole.

Regional highlights are included in the table below:

All four of Virginia’s HC&SA subsectors added jobs in February, although most of this growth was concentrated in the Social Assistance subsector, which grew by 1,700 jobs. The Social Assistance subsector has seen tremendous growth over the past year. Its current year-over-year growth rate is 10%, which is more than double the rate of the next fastest-growing subsector, Ambulatory Health Care Services. In addition, recent growth has been accelerating: February’s preliminary estimate represents a one-month annualized growth rate of 33.3%.

Additional subsector highlights are included in the table below:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Monthly Change in Employment in Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the March issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 1: State and National Employment

February was the strongest month for Virginia’s HC&SA sector in more than seven years. In total, 3,000 jobs were created, representing a one-month annualized growth rate of more than 9%. In addition, January’s preliminary employment estimate, which originally indicated that Virginia’s HC&SA sector lost 1,800 jobs, was revised upward by 200 jobs, mitigating some of the losses from the previous month.

Employment in Virginia’s HC&SA sector has once again exceeded the threshold value of 400,000 jobs, a milestone that had originally been reached in December of 2012 — before the unexpectedly large job losses that occurred in January. Given current long-term trends — Virginia’s HC&SA sector has a 3.7% year-over-year employment growth rate — it is expected that Virginia’s health care sector should be able to remain above the 400,000 job threshold in future months.

Other highlights include the following:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Monthly Change in Employment in Virginia’s Health Care & Social Assistance Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the February issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 1: State and National Employment

One month after reaching the 400,000 job milestone, Virginia’s HC&SA sector gave back some of its impressive 2012 employment gains by losing an estimated 1,800 jobs in January, which represents a one-month annualized loss of more than 5%. This decline was the first monthly job loss in Virginia’s HC&SA sector in more than a year.

Despite January’s results, Virginia’s HC&SA sector continues to exhibit strong long-term employment growth. Over the past year, employment growth in the sector has grown by 3.0%, which is 36% higher than the national average of 2.2%. This translates to nearly 1,000 new health care jobs per month since the beginning of 2012.

It should be noted that these results incorporate annual BLS benchmark adjustments that go as far back as January of 2008 for seasonally adjusted data. These revisions reconcile payroll survey results with unemployment insurance data. Because of these adjustments, employment numbers in the February brief may not match results from previous briefings. For those who are interested, details are available here.

Other highlights include the following:

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.

Annual Change in HC&SA Subsector Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted, change from Dec. to Dec.)

The Department of Health Professions’ Healthcare Workforce Data Center has released the February issue of its Virginia Health Care Workforce Brief Series 2: Regional and Sectoral Employment.

Due to strong seasonal factors, preliminary estimates indicate that Virginia’s HC&SA sector lost 4,400 jobs in January, which represents a one-month annualized decline of more than 12%. These declines were felt throughout most of the state, especially in the Hampton Roads area, where 2,000 health care jobs were lost. Richmond was the only region to experience positive HC&SA employment growth, adding 300 jobs during the month. Although this is the worst monthly job loss in Virginia’s HC&SA sector in eight years, employment growth has still increased by more than 3% over the past 12 months, including positive gains in every major region of the state. Highlights for each major region of Virginia are included below:

Every HC&SA subsector experienced job losses in January. Hospitals, Social Assistance, and Nursing & Residential Care Facilities bore the brunt of these job losses with double-digit declines in their one-month annualized growth rate. Meanwhile, Ambulatory Health Care, which saw a nearly 7% decline in its own one-month annualized employment growth rate, was the only HC&SA subsector to lose less than 1,000 jobs in January.

With respect to long-term employment growth, Virginia’s HC&SA subsectors have bifurcated over the past several months. Social Assistance and Ambulatory Health Care are currently experiencing rather robust 12-month employment growth, but growth in Hospitals and Nursing & Residential Care Facilities has fallen below 1%. In fact, employment in Virginia’s Hospital subsector has now reached a six-month low. Details for each subsector are included below:

It should be noted that these results incorporate annual BLS benchmark adjustments that go as far back as April of 2011 for non-seasonally adjusted data. These revisions reconcile payroll survey results with unemployment insurance data. Because of these adjustments, employment numbers in the February brief may not match results from previous briefings, especially with respect to HC&SA subsector data. For those who are interested, details are available here.

To access the full brief, click the image above. To see all Virginia Health Care Workforce Briefs and to access archival briefs, visit our website.