Wall Street Journal Examines How Health Care Sector Has Become ‘Employer of Last Resort’

Health care "has emerged as the employer of last resort," as the number of manufacturing jobs declines nationally, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, there were 48,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in March and 310,000 fewer over the past 12 months, while the number of health care jobs increased by 23,000 in March and by 363,000 over the past 12 months. The Journal reports that the trend could "help blunt the effects of the faltering economy" because the "[d]emand for health care tends to stay strong during recessions," as consumers "are more likely to cut back on new appliances or cars than emergency room visits."

Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) have said they will take steps to "revitalize manufacturing," yet health care "is more likely to be an economic driver in many towns and cities," the Journal reports. If either candidate wins the election and enacts his or her health care plan, millions more U.S. residents with health care coverage could result in an increase in health care spending, according to the Journal.

The Journal -- which examines in detail the experience of Bangor, Maine -- reports that there are "downsides to health care's ever-increasing role" in the job market. Communities that rely on health care jobs "can end up with a weaker economy, one overly dependent on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid." In addition, there is also a risk of a "wider income gap between what the highest- and the lowest-paid workers earn" than in manufacturing, according to the Journal (Dougherty, Wall Street Journal, 4/15).