Fresh data on the US labor market and new research from the Federal Reserve suggest that the conventional wisdom around employment growth being sluggish is wrong. Rather than healthcare being the only industry propping up a labor market that would otherwise be weak, the employment dynamics we are witnessing are the inevitable outcome of a labor force that's barely growing due to sharply reduced immigration.

Because demand for healthcare grows as the population ages, non-healthcare industries are forced to make do with fewer workers. Changing that dynamic will require boosting the labor force -- presumably by a shift in immigration policy that is unlikely until at least 2029 -- or finding a way to increase healthcare productivity or reduce demand so the industry stops hoovering up so many workers.

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