The job market is in a 'deep freeze.' One industry is keeping it from sliding backward.

• The job market is heavily leaning on the healthcare and social assistance sector.
• The sector has grown 18% from January 2019 compared to a measly 4% for all other nonfarm payrolls.
• Healthcare and social assistance accounted for all net job growth in the US last year.

One industry hasn't chilled just yet in the job market's "Great Freeze," and it will likely continue to persevere.

In the ongoing low-hire, low-fire job market, job seekers can still find opportunities in the private healthcare and social assistance sector, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. Employment in this sector has grown 18% from January 2019, compared to 4% for all other nonfarm payrolls.

That divide has gotten even more stark in the last year. The latest jobs report showed that the US added only 181,000 jobs in 2025; healthcare and social assistance added 693,200 jobs over the year. That means the job market would have lost about half a million jobs without this sector.

"The healthcare industry was such an important driver of jobs growth in 2025 that we are going to want to watch it closely in 2026 for any signs of a slowdown," Daniel Zhao, the chief economist at Glassdoor, told Business Insider. "As jobs growth in the labor market becomes more narrow, we are relying increasingly on healthcare to keep us in the green."

Opportunities for doctors, nurses, and similar professionals are less vulnerable to the uncertainty that's been prevalent in the job market. Job-market experts said healthcare and social assistance work will remain important as the population ages and people retire.

"Healthcare is definitely a job-producing engine that will continue to be so," Christian Gomez, a vice president at ADP, said.

The broader job market continues to be defined by job seekers struggling to get off the sidelines and seeking new career options. Gregory Daco, the chief economist at EY, said the job market is in a "deep freeze," indicated by a few data points taken together: recent hires rates are comparable to low rates in 2013 when the job market was still recovering from the Great Recession, quit rates have tumbled since the post-pandemic "Great Resignation" when workers felt confident they'd be able to find a new gig, and openings are low compared to demand from job seekers.

Getting into healthcare and social assistance

Laura Ullrich, the director of economic research in North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said Indeed data shows many of the job postings in the healthcare sector are traditional medical roles, such as technicians, physicians, and dentists, rather than software engineers and accountants, although there are also openings for non-clinical roles in this particular sector.

"It's difficult for people just to switch from being an employee in financial activities, for example, and then shift to healthcare," Ullrich said.

But that doesn't mean you need to go to medical school to get into the industry. Gomez, who connects with some big hospitals, said as more people depend on health services, "that doesn't just mean that clinical roles are the ones that will be creating opportunities for people entering the job market." He said there are tech, caregiving, human resources, and finance opportunities already in demand within healthcare.

BLS data from May 2024 shows that the healthcare and social assistance sector employs plenty of secretaries and administrative assistants, as well as receptionists and information clerks.