June Jobs Data Puts Focus on Healthcare ETFs & Stocks
The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in June 2025 from 4.2% in May, defying market expectations of a rise to 4.3%. The rate has held within a narrow 4.0-4.2% band since May 2024, signaling broad labor market stability.
The number of unemployed dropped by 222,000 to 7.015 million, while employment rose modestly by 93,000 to 163.366 million. However, the overall labor force shrank by 130,000 to 170.380 million.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $36.30 in June. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7%. In June, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $31.24.
Below, we have highlighted the sector and its related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that will likely experience smooth trading in the days ahead in light of the June jobs data.
Healthcare
Healthcare added 39,000 jobs in June, similar to the average monthly gain of 43,000 over the prior 12 months. In June, job gains were noted in hospitals (+16,000) and in nursing and residential care facilities (+14,000).
Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF XLV can be played to tap the moderate momentum, although Trump's tax bill may lead millions of Americans to lose healthcare coverage. The fund has 30% exposure to the pharma industry, followed by 22.32% exposure to the healthcare providers & services industry, about 22% focus on Health Care Equipment & Supplies, 17.1% focus on the biotech sector and 8.7% focus on the life sciences tools & services.
iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF IHF concentrates on companies in the healthcare provider and services sector. The underlying Dow Jones U.S. Select HealthCare Providers Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index. It measures the performance of the healthcare providers sub-sector of the U.S. equity market. It includes health maintenance organizations, hospitals, clinics, dentists, opticians, nursing homes, rehabilitation & retirement centres. The fund charges 40 bps in fees.
Vanguard Health Care ETF VHT tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index made up of stocks of U.S. companies in the healthcare sector. The fund charges 9 bps in fees and sports a Zacks Rank #1.
HCA Healthcare HCA, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), deserves a mention. It is the largest non-governmental operator of acute care hospitals in the United States. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.06%, on average.
Welltower WELL is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that is engaged in investments with seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.24%, on average.
Zacks Rank #2 Omega Healthcare Investors OHI is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT), investing in income-producing healthcare facilities, principally long-term care facilities located in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 2.13%, on average.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (OHI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT): ETF Research Reports
iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF (IHF): ETF Research Reports
Welltower Inc. (WELL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Veterans Affairs will cut nearly 30,000 jobs, far fewer than planned
By Christian Martinez (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will make two-thirds fewer employee cuts this fiscal year than it first targeted, reducing staff by about 30,000 people rather than 80,000, the agency said on Monday. The agency employed about around 480,000 people at the start of the Trump administration and expects to end the fiscal year in September with nearly 450,000 staff. Under President Donald Trump's program to downsize the federal government, the agency had planned to reach just under 400,000 employees. That proposal drew widespread condemnation from military veteran groups and Democrats. The agency said in a statement it was on pace to reduce its staff "through the federal hiring freeze, deferred resignations, retirements and normal attrition." It did not say why it no longer needed to make further cuts. The scale of the original planned layoffs was far greater than proposed cuts at other government agencies and potentially posed a political risk for Trump, who portrays himself as a champion of the U.S. military and its members. Between January and June, the agency shed nearly 17,000 employees and expects "nearly 12,000 additional VA employees to exit" by September 30, the VA said. "A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn't mean we're done improving VA," VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a release, referring to a reduction in force, which means permanent layoffs. Just under 9 million veterans were enrolled in the VA Health Care System in March, according to the VA website.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Veterans Affairs Dept. drops plan to lay off thousands in August
The Department of Veterans Affairs has dropped plans revealed in a memo earlier this year to lay off tens of thousands of personnel in August, a news release from the department indicated Monday. The VA announced it's currently on pace to reduce its staff by about 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year, in September, thereby "eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force," or RIF. The department originally planned to reduce its staff to 2019 levels, or just under 400,000, according to a memo obtained by CBS News in March. The VA said in its release that it had "roughly 484,000 employees on Jan. 1, 2025" — meaning the initial plans would have required the VA to cut upwards of 80,000 jobs. In a statement included in the release, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins said that as a result of a "holistic" department-wide review, the VA "is headed in the right direction — both in terms of staff levels and customer service. A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn't mean we're done improving VA." The VA acknowledged in the release that the agency "had been considering a department-wide RIF to reduce staff levels by up to 15%," but said "employee reductions through the federal hiring freeze, deferred resignations, retirements and normal attrition have eliminated the need for that RIF." A spokesperson for the VA said in a statement Monday that it spent "nearly four months conducting a holistic review of the department to see what needs to be changed." The department claimed that in recent months, the VA has improved services for veterans, citing "huge drops in the number of Veterans waiting for disability benefits, sizeable increases in claims processing productivity, and extraordinary progress regarding our electronic health record modernization." The spokesperson said the original number of 80,000 staff cuts "got employees thinking outside of the box to come up with new and better ways of serving Veterans," and the "main goal all along has been creating the best possible experiences and outcomes" for veterans and their families. Under the Biden administration, the VA hired tens of thousands of workers, in part to help administer the PACT Act, which addresses toxic exposures veterans suffered while serving in the military. The Trump administration initially looked at cutting staff levels to pre-Biden administration levels. The Trump administration imposed a broader hiring freeze on many government jobs earlier this year, part of a push to cut the size of the federal workforce. The VA exempted some roles from that freeze, including many health care jobs at the agency's hospital network. The administration also offered a voluntary "deferred resignation" deal that allowed thousands of federal workers to leave their jobs in early February and get paid until September. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut took note of the reversal of the planned mass layoffs at the VA and blamed the work environment at the department. "This announcement makes clear VA is bleeding employees across the board at an unsustainable rate because of the toxic work environment created by this Administration and DOGE's slash and trash policies," Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said in a statement. "This is not 'natural' attrition, it is not strategic, and it will inevitably impact veterans' care and benefits — no matter what blanket assurances the VA Secretary hides behind." Blumenthal noted the VA workforce usually expands by about 10,000 "in a typical year," and its statement that it was losing 30,000 this year means the VA "still stands to lose tens of thousands more employees than ever before." He complained that the administration "repeatedly refused to share any additional information about this plan to cut 83,000 VA employees and what positions would be targeted." Death toll rises as desperate search for Texas flash flood survivors continues Sabrina Carpenter on the biggest misperceptions about her How Lady Liberty became a beacon for immigrants
Geek Vibes Nation
20 minutes ago
- Geek Vibes Nation
How To Protect PHI In The Cloud: A Healthcare Guide
Protected Health Information (PHI) refers to a person's health data, including medical records, diagnoses, treatment details, or billing information. This data can be collected and stored when individuals interact with healthcare providers, insurance companies, hospitals, or health-related platforms. Since this information is sensitive and personal, anyone who stores or manages PHI is responsible for keeping it secure, whether it's a healthcare organization, a digital health service, or a cloud provider. This includes information such as: Patient names Medical record numbers Health insurance details Social Security numbers Test results and prescriptions Dates of birth and addresses Billing and payment information PHI becomes especially sensitive because it combines personal identity with private medical data, making it a high-value target for cybercriminals. If this information is exposed or compromised, it can lead to: Identity theft Medical fraud Unauthorized use of insurance benefits Reputational harm Loss of trust in healthcare providers In the wrong hands, even a seemingly minor piece of PHI can be used to construct full identity profiles or conduct fraudulent activities, making the consequences of a data breach potentially devastating for both individuals and healthcare organizations. Moreover, mishandling PHI can trigger serious legal and financial penalties under privacy laws such as HIPAA (in the U.S.), which strictly governs how PHI should be stored, transmitted, and accessed. Because of this high sensitivity and legal responsibility, PHI demands the highest level of protection, especially when stored or processed in cloud environments. Key Challenges of Storing PHI in Cloud Environments Storing PHI in the cloud helps healthcare organisations scale quickly, reduce costs, and improve accessibility. However, it also brings several challenges. From legal compliance to security missteps, each issue needs to be addressed carefully to keep data safe. 1. Meeting Security and Compliance Requirements Healthcare data must comply with strict privacy and security laws such as HIPAA, GDPR, and local regulations. These laws define how PHI should be stored, accessed, and shared. In cloud environments, ensuring compliance requires strong encryption, strict access controls, audit logging, and regular risk assessments. If not implemented correctly, non-compliance can lead to serious penalties. 2. Understanding Shared Responsibility Cloud service providers manage the physical infrastructure and core services. However, healthcare organizations are still responsible for securing their data within the cloud. This includes setting up proper access control, using secure architecture, writing secure application code, applying data encryption, and regularly monitoring their systems. Without this, misconfigurations and security gaps are likely. 3. Rising Cybersecurity Threats PHI is a common target for cyberattacks because it holds high value. Threats like ransomware, phishing, and unauthorized access can lead to data breaches. If attackers gain access, the data can be sold, misused, or leaked, resulting in privacy loss, financial damage, and legal action against the healthcare provider. 4. Cloud Misconfigurations Simple mistakes such as leaving cloud storage buckets publicly accessible or forgetting to enable encryption can expose sensitive data. These misconfigurations often happen during manual setup or due to a lack of proper knowledge, and they're one of the leading causes of PHI exposure. Cloud platforms often rely on third-party tools for added functionality. If these external tools are not secure or compliant, they become a weak link. Healthcare organizations must evaluate every vendor they connect with to ensure they meet security standards. 6. Limited Visibility and Control In traditional on-premise systems, organizations can see and control everything. In cloud environments, that visibility is reduced. It becomes harder to track who accessed what data, when, and from where, especially if real-time monitoring tools like AWS CloudTrail or Azure Monitor aren't in place. 7. Data Location and Jurisdiction Risks Cloud providers may store data across global data centers. If PHI is stored in another country, it may fall under different legal systems. This can lead to conflicts with local regulations and affect data privacy. Healthcare providers must ensure that data is stored in permitted locations. Best Practices to Protect PHI in the Cloud Protecting PHI in the cloud requires a combination of the right technologies, strong policies, and well-planned system design. Below are some essential practices healthcare organizations should follow to keep individual medical data safe and compliant. 1. Choose a HIPAA-Compliant Cloud Provider Cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP offer HIPAA-eligible services along with a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA). For example, AWS HIPAA compliance ensures that healthcare organizations can use approved cloud services with the required security controls, encryption, and access management to safely process and store PHI. 2. Use Strong Data Encryption Data should be encrypted both at rest (when stored) and in transit (when being shared or moved). Most cloud platforms offer built-in encryption services. Organizations can also use Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) options for better control over encryption keys. 3. Implement Identity and Access Management (IAM) Not everyone needs access to all data. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to limit who can view or modify PHI. Also, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security when users log in. 4. Design a Secure Cloud Architecture Secure systems start with secure design. Use best practices like: Isolating sensitive workloads using virtual networks Applying firewalls and security groups Limiting public internet exposure Following the principle of least privilege These steps reduce the attack surface and help prevent unauthorized access. 5. Monitor, Audit, and Log Everything Set up continuous monitoring tools to detect unusual activities. Keep logs of who accessed what data and when. Regular auditing ensures that systems are working correctly and helps meet compliance standards. 6. Regular Backups and Disaster Recovery Create automatic backups of critical data and applications. Store them in secure, separate locations. Test your disaster recovery plans regularly to ensure systems can be restored quickly in case of an incident. 7. Train Your Staff Even strong technology can fail if employees are careless. Provide regular training on: Recognizing phishing attacks Following secure login practices Reporting suspicious activity Educated staff play a key role in keeping PHI safe. Conclusion Storing and protecting PHI in the cloud demands more than just a technical setup. It requires a security-first mindset backed by clear compliance measures. With growing data risks and strict regulations, healthcare providers must act wisely. Leveraging reliable and professional cloud consulting services ensures your cloud setup remains secure, HIPAA-compliant, and ready to scale with healthcare demands.
