Health care employment in the U.S. remained sluggish last month with a drop of about 19,500 nursing and residential care facility jobs, according to the latest labor report.

Why it matters: It's the latest sign of the lingering economic hardship the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked on health care and, in particular, on the nursing home industry.

It looks like there's a long road ahead for health care with employment in the industry still down by 542,000 jobs since February 2020. There was a net drop of about 4,100 jobs between March and April 2021.

• Nursing homes are facing a reckoning, with more families reconsidering alternatives after infections spread like wildfire in many facilities, the New York Times reports.
• More than 132,000 U.S. nursing home residents and about 1,900 nursing home staff died from COVID-19 infections.

Hospitals also reported drops in employment, posting a job loss of 5,800 jobs between March and April.

Yes, but: About 21,000 new ambulatory care jobs were added in April. That included 11,300 jobs added in physician's offices.

• That news comes as health systems report a recovery of some revenue, largely driven by a rebound in outpatient business.