Healthcare Sector Continues Grow Amidst Slowly Improving Economy

WASHINGTON, DC – Following the release of September jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) International Executive Vice President Kirk Adams issued a statement highlighting job growth potential in the healthcare sector. SEIU is the largest union of healthcare workers, representing more than 1.2 million nurses, home care workers, nursing home workers, lab technicians and doctors.

“Today’s job numbers should call into serious question the Republican obsession with cutting Medicare and Medicaid. Cutting these essential healthcare services would not only endanger the health of seniors and families, it would also drive more job losses our country cannot afford. In another month of otherwise slowly improving job growth, more than 44,000 jobs were created in the healthcare sector.

“September’s growth in the healthcare sector is not an anomaly. In August 2011, amidst an equally challenging economic climate, the healthcare sector added 30,000 new jobs, more than any other industry. Part of this growth is clearly demand, but part of it is innovation too, as healthcare providers and nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers find new ways to improve care delivery and improve the health of their patients.

“For decades, the healthcare sector has been one of America’s greatest job engines. These jobs play a critical role in the vitality of our communities, cannot be shipped overseas and provide opportunity for tremendous innovation.

“Today’s job numbers are an important forecast of the future and point to an important opportunity for economic growth and a way to ensure Americans have access to quality healthcare services. The sort of deep cuts that Republicans have demanded not only endanger the lives of seniors, people with disabilities and children, but they would shift more costs onto fragile state budgets and impede economic growth.

“Congress must endorse an agenda that maintains access to healthcare services and forces CEOs and millionaires to pay their fair share to save Medicaid and Medicare and put this country back to work”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

• According to the Economic Policy Institute, the Ryan plan will cut Medicaid by $207B resulting in a private sector job loss of 2.1M over the next 5 years.
• Every $1 million in federal Medicaid spending results in 17.1 new jobs. Cutting federal spending on Medicaid, then, means cutting jobs.
• Healthcare continues to be a growing industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 10 of the 20 fastest growing occupations are healthcare related.
• 3.2 million new healthcare wage and salary jobs will be generated between 2008 and 2018, more than any other industry.

For more information about healthcare jobs, please visit: http://www.seiu.org/healthcare-jobs/

With 2.1 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy. www.seiu.org

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