Is This A Healthcare Economy? By Emma Wager Twitter, Paul Hughes-Cromwick, Lynne Cotter, and Cynthia Cox Twitter October 5, 2026

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/is-this-a-healthcare-economy/?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_xi5qx6T1llwId_cYUgElt6Yp50Zu31-oj-o0pyNmqtQ06zd8KMnQ0RxB1nczZURoa6LnqRBUZ4DeCNzKOrI0_GVSGlA&_hsmi=442549530&utm_content=442549530&utm_source=hs_email Health Care Jobs Have Outpaced Other Employment, But Emerging Trends Could Shift the Outlook Health care employment has grown faster than other sectors of the economy, with jobs in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, and other settings increasing over the past year even as the rest of the job market plateaued, according to a new KFF analysis. Since September 2025, the healthcare sector has added 372,000 jobs (up 2%), while the overall non-farm economy apart from the healthcare sector gained 124,000 jobs (up 0.1%). These trends in health care employment may reflect the effects of an aging population and rising rates of chronic illness as well as the sector’s resilience due to the continuing need for health care even as other economic sectors experience downturns, relatively higher wages, and lower susceptibility to outsourcing and automation. Whether or not health care employment continues its decades-long growth trajectory will depend in part on how these forces unfold in the months and years ahead. The rise of artificial intelligence and major changes to federal and state health policy—including cuts to Medicaid and the ACA Marketplaces—could end or limit insurance coverage for millions of Americans, dampen demand in some health care settings, and increase uncompensated care for providers.