Healthcare Employment Dropped In December For Only The Second Time In Nearly 25 Years

Friday's jobs report was a weird one.

For one, the pace of job creation was much worse than expected. Secondly, there was a huge drop in the unemployment rate. Also, there seems to have been a sizable impact from weather.

And then there's this: the healthcare industry actually shed jobs.

How weird is that? Just check out this chart showing the monthly change in healthcare jobs every month since 1990.

Healthcare has been SUCH a steady creator of employment in the US, this is only the second month where there was a decline. Even throughout the economic crisis, healthcare didn't once have a month of lost jobs. Whether this is the start of a trend or a blip is an interesting question to watch.