CHICAGO, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional Diversity Network, Inc. (Nasdaq:IPDN) releases its newest Diversity Jobs Report (DJR) and Diversity Jobs Index (DJI), which includes an analysis of the nation's employment situation for women, minorities, veterans, LGBT and disabled persons for the month prior. The December report focuses on workforce diversity and best practices in the health care industry.

DJR highlights:

• Impact of baby boomers: In spite of the recession, the health care industry has been a key economic driver and consistently added new jobs over the past decade. Job growth in this sector is expected to continue to accommodate the aging US population, namely baby boomers.
• Sizeable minority pipeline: If health care employers are inclined to increase diversity hiring, data indicates there is a sufficient pipeline of qualified Hispanic and African American job seekers to help meet demand in certain occupations.
• Women key to workforce: Due mostly to nursing and administrative jobs, employment in the health care labor force ranks highest among women at 74.8 percent (including education and health services).

"Diversity in the health care industry is of vital importance to better understand the cultural differences in various populations within our country, quickly diagnose conditions and provide patients with better overall medical care," said Star Jones, president, Professional Diversity Network. "Our goal is to help health care employers identify and hire top diverse talent to meet these needs."

Although overall unemployment is declining, joblessness for minorities is increasing nationwide. The DJI for November 2014 is 44.97, indicating a 23.87% decrease in demand for diverse talent as compared to the month prior.

A free copy of the full report is available here: http://diversityjobnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Diversity_Jobs_Report-DEC_FINAL.pdf.

About Professional Diversity Network
Professional Diversity Network (PDN) is an Internet software and services company that develops and operates online professional networking communities dedicated to serving diverse professionals and employers seeking to hire women, minorities, veterans, LGBT and disabled professionals. Through job matching technology, national events, networking career fairs and relationship affinity groups, the Chicago-based company provides employer clients a means to identify and acquire diverse talent and assists them with efforts to comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. PDN's subsidiary, the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) is one of the largest and most recognized networking organizations of professional women in the US, with over 600,000 members representing more than 200 industries. Online networking communities include iHispano, BlackCareerNework, WomensCareerChannel, Military2Career, ProAble, OutProNet and AsianCareerNetwork. For more information visit, prodivnet.com.

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SOURCE Professional Diversity Network