Dentists Got Back to Work in May, Leading Health Jobs Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Dentists got back to work last month after the coronavirus forced many of them to close temporarily, accounting for the lion's share of job gains in the U.S. health industry.

Dental offices added 245,000 jobs in May as hygienists and other workers returned to cleaning teeth, filling cavities and booking appointments, one of several bright spots in Friday's surprising labor report. Economists had been expecting severe job losses across the board, but with various states beginning to ease pandemic social-distancing guidelines, what surfaced instead was a sharp rebound in hiring.

Health-care overall added 312,000 jobs, with all of the gains coming in ambulatory settings such as dentists, physician offices and other outpatient care. Hospitals and nursing homes, which have been caring for the sickest Covid-19 patients and had to put aside many other practices and procedures, continued to eliminate jobs, though at a slower pace than earlier in the outbreak.

Dental offices were hammered by the Covid-19 shutdowns, shedding half a million jobs in April, more than half the industry's workforce. Employment is still down significantly from where it was in March, both for dentists and the wider health-care sector.

The May bounceback in settings where many healthy people go for routine care and checkups could be an early indication of patients' comfort levels in a post-Covid world. Getting your teeth cleaned isn't risk-free, but it may be perceived as less worrisome by patients than going to the hospital for surgery.

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