Hospitals and care providers added 43,000 jobs in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), continuing the upward trend spanning the last 12 months in which the healthcare industry added 477,000 jobs to the economy.

BLS noted that the sector leads other industries when it comes to job creation. And the newly released job numbers were higher than expected across all industries, with the nation's employers adding 255,000 jobs in the month.

In healthcare, ambulatory health services led the healthcare hiring in the month, adding more than 19,000 jobs. Hospitals added more than 17,000 jobs and nursing and residential care facilities added more than 7,000 jobs.