Job market rising for PTs
Rehab Regs, December 16, 2005
PTs are experiencing virtually no unemployment and are reporting overall increased salaries, according to a series of surveys recently conducted and released by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
The job market for PTs has continued to improve since APTA's last study completed in fall 2001. The current 0.2% unemployment rate has decreased from the 1.1% of PTs unemployed in the spring of 2001.
"It's very encouraging to see our profession persevere and thrive through the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 [which drastically cut reimbursement for physical therapy services, particularly in the long-term care sector], an economic recession, and the financial fallout of September 11," said APTA President Ben F Massey, Jr, PT, MA.
APTA's Physical Therapist Employment Survey was designed to assess trends in employment patterns, and the most recent version shows the lowest unemployment rate since data were first collected in October 1998. Also based on survey results, non-members of APTA were two-and-one-half times more likely to experience employment turbulence than were their PT counterparts who are members of the association.
APTA's 2005 Median Income of Physical Therapists Summary Report, a separate survey conducted among members, reviews data collected in years 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004. The median income of PTs has increased by 23.6% between 1999 and 2004, from $55,000 to $68,000 annually, while the adjusted income (adjusted for inflation) increased by 9%, from $33,013 to $35,998. This increase indicates a substantial improvement in the physical therapy profession.
APTA also conducted a membership-based profile survey to examine the demographic description of its physical therapist members. Most significantly, the survey reports 13.5% of the respondents have their doctorate of physical therapy or other doctorate degree, up from 3.7% in 1999. The survey also showed that male respondents have risen from 29.9% in 1999 to 32.2% in 2004.
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