NH Business: Most new jobs created in New Hampshire are in health care and social assistance, in response to growth in the 65-and-over population
BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. HERE’S A TIP FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR THE MOST JOBS. NEW HAMPSHIRE’S JOB GROWTH TO 2032 IS EXPECTED TO BE IN HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE. IT’S ALREADY THE LARGEST SECTOR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, EMPLOYING OVER 92,000 WORKERS IN RECENT YEARS. MY GUEST WILL EXPLAIN IT IN A MINUTE. NOW LOOK AT THIS CHART. HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE EMPLOYMENT. IT SHOWS THE SHARP DROP IN HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE EMPLOYMENT DURING THE PANDEMIC AND THE GRADUAL RECOVERY SINCE. THIS IS THE LARGEST EMPLOYMENT SECTOR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE RIGHT NOW. NEW HAMPSHIRE EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS BY SECTOR, HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE ALONE ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 9,100 NEW JOBS, AN INCREASE OF NEARLY 10% BETWEEN 2022 AND 2023. IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, TO EXPLAIN WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, THERE’S AN ECONOMIST WHO’S DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND LABOR MARKET INFORMATION AT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND SECURITY. BRIAN GOTTLIEB, IT’S HERE IN TOWN, HERE IN THE STUDIO. THANK YOU, BRIAN. IT’S A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. Uh, your research shows that employment in the health care and social assistance sector has been slowly recovering compared to the years before the pandemic. That’s right. Uh, health care in particular relies on the temporary workforce. The workforce, the so-called traveling nurses. Yeah. Uh, so walk us through the two parts of the next graph that we have on the screen. Uh, the bar, the bar on the left, uh, in particular, has two parts. One part is very steep and one part at the top is very thin. Just tell us what we’re looking at. Yeah. The bulk of this bar just shows employment before and before the pandemic. AND THAT LITTLE BIT AT THE TOP JUST SHOWS THE NUMBER OF HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE JOBS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE THAT TIME. SO IT’S A VERY SMALL NUMBER. WHEN WE LOOK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS CHART, WE SEE SOME OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT JOBS ARE MAINLY TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES, PLACEMENT AGENCIES AND WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THAT THERE HAS BEEN A VERY STRONG INCREASE IN EMPLOYMENT IN THOSE WHO ARE WORKING IN THAT SECTOR, AND THAT IS MUCH OF A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRIES HAVE HAD TO REACH OUT TO THEM TO EMPLOY TEMPORARY AND TRAVELING NURSES, ETC. I RECENTLY VISITTED BRIAN, A FAMILY MEMBER, IN A HOSPITAL IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. SHE JUST HAD SURGERY. I NOTICED THAT THE DEPARTMENT WAS VERY LIGHTLY STAFFED IN RELATION TO THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS, BECAUSE I WAS WORKING IN HOSPITALS. SO I’M KIND OF LOOKING FOR THAT, AND SO WHAT’S DRIVING HEALTHCARE EMPLOYMENT TO WORK RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE’VE COME OUT OF THE PANDEMIC? YEAH, HEALTHCARE HAS REALLY BEEN ON THE FRONT LINES OF SOME MAJOR ISSUES. One, demographic changes are happening as the population ages, they demand more health care, the demand for health care is increasing. Also, during the pandemic, health care sectors have suffered some of the greatest job losses. Um, working in a hospital, as you mentioned, is a very stressful job. So you’ve seen people leave hospitals, maybe to go to other health care, outpatient health care, maybe even to retail sectors that have more and more health care clinics. So they’ve really been on the front lines. Hospitals, nursing homes. Those are the two sectors that have really suffered. AND IT CONTINUES TO SOME EXTENT. LET’S SHOW UP THIS NEXT CHART, BECAUSE IT’S REALLY AMAZING. UH, THE MOST EYEWITTING CHART YOU’VE PROVIDED IS THIS PROJECTED GROWTH IN HEALTHCARE EMPLOYMENT COMPARED TO THE PROJECTED GROWTH IN THE 65 AND OLDER POPULATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. LOOK AT THESE TWO LINES. UH, BRIAN JUST DESCRIBED THAT. YEAH. WHAT YOU SEE ON THE TOP LINE, WHICH IS THE POPULATION 65 AND OLDER, WHAT IT BASICALLY SHOWS IS THAT OVER THAT 20-YEAR PERIOD FROM 2010 TO 2030, THE POPULATION 65 AND OLDER IS GOING TO DOUBLE. Now, when you look at the graphs below, you see that overall population growth is projected to increase much more slowly. And we’re running out of time. BRIAN GOTLEIB, ECONOMIST AND DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND LABOR MARKET INFORMATION AT THE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AT CONCORD. THANK YOU. IF YOU MISSED ANY PART OF THIS BRIEFING, YOU CAN DO IT.
NH Business: Most new jobs created in New Hampshire are in health care and social assistance, in response to growth in the 65-and-over population
Updated: 7:12 a.m. EDT July 7, 2024
Brian Gottlob, director of the New Hampshire Bureau of Economic and Labor Market Information, sits down with Fred Kocher to discuss job growth in health care and social assistance in New Hampshire.
Brian Gottlob, director of the New Hampshire Bureau of Economic and Labor Market Information, sits down with Fred Kocher to discuss job growth in health care and social assistance in New Hampshire.
