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Summary of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Employment Situation Report

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today reported total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 379,000 in February, significantly above consensus estimates. Unemployment rate fell 6.2% or 10 million unemployed persons.

Most of the job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, with smaller gains in temporary help services, healthcare, social assistance, retail trade, and manufacturing.

DENTAL EMPLOYMENT AND MARKET ANALYSIS 

“The business of finding Associates has certainly become more difficult since practices reopened after the beginning of the pandemic. Demand for Associates is up while supply is down in many areas of the country. We hear four reoccurring themes: Some later career dentists have chosen to retire sooner than planned; some dentists have cut back or stopped practicing all together to care for children impacted by school closures; others have made the decision to leave their positions to move closer to family; and, there has been much more reluctance from those dentists gainfully employed to make career change. Our overall business over the past eight months has been up significantly compared to pre-pandemic numbers due to the disparity between supply and demand in many areas of the country,” says Mark Kennedy, President of ETS Dental.

Other important notes shared by the ADA Health Policy Institute from their monthly survey of dental practices across the U.S.:

• 98.1% of practices report being open and 42.6% report business as usual
• Patient volume and total collections continue to be on a steady rise over the past 3 months
• Nearly 94% of practices report they are fully paying staff
• However, fully paid status of Associates is reported to be only 76.7%

It is unclear if Associate pay reporting includes part-time doctors and/or those who are not seeking employment at this time.

As the vaccination rates continue to rise we will see a strong revival of patient demand on dental practices. Demand for Associates, Assistants, and Hygienists will rise rapidly in the second half of 2021.

Source and full reporting can be found at the ADA HPI’s COVID-19 Economic Impact on Practices webpage. 

The BLS reported 22.7 percent of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic, down from 23.2 percent in January. These data refer to employed persons who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the last four weeks specifically because of the pandemic.

Analysts are growing more optimistic that hiring will continue to accelerate in coming months.

“The labor force will begin a meaningful recovery in mid-2021 as extensive vaccine distribution will push toward herd immunity, reducing health concerns and allowing for a more complete recovery of some hard-hit industries,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Reflecting a similar tone, Nela Richardson, a Ph.D. economist at human-resources software firm Automatic Data Processing Inc. noted, “As we reopen the economy, inch-by-inch, that will unleash consumer spending and drive job growth, especially industries that have been most severely affected by the pandemic.”

As reported by the BLS, in February, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by a robust 355,000, as pandemic-related restrictions eased in some parts of the country. About four-fifths of the increase was in food services and drinking places (+286,000). Employment also rose in accommodation (+36,000) and in amusements, gambling, and recreation (+33,000).

Within professional and business services, temporary help services added 53,000 jobs in February.

Employment in healthcare and social assistance increased by 46,000 in February. Healthcare employment increased by 20,000, following a large decline in the prior month (-85,000). In February, job gains in ambulatory healthcare services (+29,000) were partially offset by losses in nursing care facilities (-12,000).

Retail trade added 41,000 jobs in February. Job growth was widespread in the industry, with the largest gains occurring in general merchandise stores (+14,000), health and personal care stores (+12,000), and food and beverage stores (+10,000). These gains were partially offset by a loss in clothing and clothing accessories stores (-20,000). The retail sector has added 2 million jobs from May 2020 through February 2021.

Manufacturing employment increased by 21,000 over the month, led by a gain in transportation equipment (+10,000).

In February, employment changed little in other major industries, including wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and other services.

Employment decreases were noted in local government education (-37,000) and state government education (-32,000).

Severe winter weather across much of the country likely held down employment in construction where jobs fell by 61,000 in February, largely reflecting declines in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-37,000) and heavy and civil engineering construction (-21,000).

Of note, the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised up by 117,000, from the previously reported 49,000 increase in January.

Download and read the full report here