Healthcare gained 32,700 jobs in September, slightly less than the 12-month average of 37,000 jobs, but up from last month’s August reading of 22,000, according to the Health Sector Economic Indicators briefs released by the Altarum Institute’s Center for Sustainable Health Spending.

September’s healthcare job growth was similar to the 12-month average in all healthcare settings except hospitals, which grew by only 7,000 jobs compared to the 12-month average of 13,000.

“We have expected health spending growth to slow in 2016 in response to the slowdown in expanded coverage,” said Charles Roehrig, founding director of the center. “However, the September Quarterly Services Survey suggests that spending on healthcare services in the first half of 2016 has been growing at about the same rate as in 2015. It took a while for expanded coverage to push spending up, so perhaps we must wait a while longer for the slowdown in expanded coverage to be reflected in slower spending growth. We await QSS data for the third quarter which will be released on Dec. 8.”

Altarum Institute is a nonprofit health systems research and consulting organization. The research analyzed data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report.