October 12, 2021 | Read Time: 1 minute
Nonprofits saw jobs decline in September for the first time this year, according to new data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.
The net decline for all types of nonprofits was small — just 2,500 jobs lost, for a 0.4 percent decline. However, job losses were much steeper in some areas than others. Worst hit were nonprofits in a catchall category that includes foundations, religious organizations, and public-policy advocacy groups, which saw an 11.9 percent decline in employment, followed by education, which saw a 10.7 percent decline, and health care, which saw a 3.4 percent drop.
The previous overall decline was in December, when the nonprofit work force shrank 3 percent.
Social-assistance nonprofits saw gains of 16.3 percent, and arts, entertainment, and recreation groups saw 11.3 percent job growth.
The nonprofit work force remains down by nearly 560,000 jobs, or 4.5 percent, compared with its estimated pre-pandemic level, according to the new report.
The report cautions against raising significant alarm over a one-month downturn in the numbers because the pandemic has changed the typical seasonal hiring and layoff patterns.
The Hopkins analysis is not a direct measure of nonprofit jobs; instead, it uses federal unemployment data to estimate job gains and losses based on the proportion of nonprofit employers in different industries.
