After a horrific April for unemployment numbers in the healthcare sector, May took a surprising upturn, led by the dental industry, according to a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
According to BLS, jobs in education and health services dropped by 2.6 million in April. However, employment in the sector made a comeback in May, increasing by 424,000. The largest gain in the sector came from the dental industry, where 245,000 employees returned to the workforce.
With dental practices reopening across the country during that time span, the return to work for dental professionals was not surprising. However, the number of employees who temporarily lost their jobs speaks volumes to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dental industry.
Following the gains in dentistry, the next highest areas of growth in the health services were in the offices of other health practitioners (+73,000) and the offices of physicians (+51,000).
