Manufacturing's Unemployed Find Work at the Hospital

The healthcare sector's growth could help mitigate US slowdown
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2008 2:41 PM CDT
Manufacturing's Unemployed Find Work at the Hospital
Barack Obama tours the Johnstown Wire Factory in Johnstown, Pa., Saturday, March 29, 2008. A Democratic president in 2008 could further boost the health care sector's growth.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

American communities once reliant on the manufacturing industry are increasingly being supported by the growing healthcare sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over the past 10 years, the former paper-mill town of Bangor, Maine, lost 3,700 factory jobs—but gained 3,500 healthcare jobs, a hopeful sign for an economy teetering on the brink of recession.

The trend has helped many weather the general switch to a service economy. But the health industry is reliant on Medicare and Medicaid, and could ultimately deliver a weaker economy to places like Bangor. And wage inequality is much greater in hospitals than factories, with highly educated doctors commanding six-figure salaries while entry-level attendants work for minimum wage. (More health care industry stories.)

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