Yahoo!: BLS Says Health Care Industry is Booming

I ran across an interesting article today on Yahoo! According to the BLS, although the job market sucks right now, the health care industry is booming.

During the past 12 months, the health care sector overall has grown by 363,000 jobs, making it the largest industry in the United States, accounting for 13.5 million jobs.

Better yet, the health care sector will generate 3 million new jobs by 2016, more than any other industry — thanks, in part, to aging baby boomers and increased numbers of retirees.

Now, I more than agree that the health care industry’s take off is largely due to the fact that we have more senior citizens today than ever before.

However, I also got to thinking…could this increased need for health care workers also be due in part to our environment? Our airs are dirty, we’re exposed to harmful chemicals everywhere, and the foods we put into our bodies are rarely fresh and organic. Could this be contributing to the need for more hospitals and doctors in the United States?

And that brings to mind another question – if trends toward “going green” continue, will the health care industry’s job market slow down? Sure, there will always bee a need for doctors and nurses, but will we start to see a change over the next few decades in regards to how long people are living and how healthy people are in general?

I don’t have the answers to these questions…just some thoughts!