While the healthcare industry has managed better than most other sectors during the economic downturn, it still has been effected by the recession.
Dr. Melayne McInnes, an economics professor at the University of South Carolina, told the Augusta Chronicle that healthcare spending in America only grew by 3.9 percent in 2010, which was a historically low figure.
“In past recessions, the healthcare sector has been hit with a lag. But in this recession, the healthcare sector was hit immediately,” McInnes said. “It looks like the effects are projected to continue. While the rest of the economy may be in recovery, health care is probably not experiencing the benefits of that yet.”
Despite McInnes’ warnings, those with nursing jobs don’t need to worry too much as a number of reports have shown that the healthcare sector will do very well in coming years.
A report from the the Bipartisan Policy Center Health Professional Workforce said that healthcare staffing will account for 11.9 percent of the civilian workforce in the U.S. by 2018, which is up from 8.7 percent in 1998, reports United Press International.