Hospitals picked up some 8,000 jobs in November as the national unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent, the lowest it's ever been while President Obama has been in office, according to new jobs report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

BLS said Hurricane Sandy, which during the period covered by this report crashed into the East Coast, devastating communities in New Jersey, New York and elsewhere, did not "substantively impact" employment rates.

The health care sector added 20,000 jobs in November, for an average job gain of 26,000 a month, the BLS said. The economy as a whole added 146,000 jobs, close to the 151,000 per month job gain average of 2012.

Hospitals employment grew a modest 0.2 percent from about 4,847,400, up from 4,839,100 in October. Since November 2011, hospital employment rose nearly 2 percent.

Doctors' offices and outpatient care centers also remained basically flat in November. Doctors' offices inched up a tenth of a percent, or some 1,700 jobs, from October, growing from 2,450,600 to 2,452,300. Outpatient care centers reported 100 new jobs, to hit 673,200 in November, the BLS said.

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