When the legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act first started taking form, the assertion that Congress did not have the power to regulate the health insurance industry under either the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause was largely seen as an academic argument that had percolated in law schools thanks to a robust presence of the Federalist Society. After all, how could an industry that accounts for approximately 16 percent of economic activity in this country be said not to affect interstate commerce?

The only two sectors showing much strength in September were employment services (temp help), which added 23,800 jobs, and health care, which added 43,800 jobs. Often growth in employment services is seen as a sign of permanent employment in the future, as companies often hire temps before turning to full-time employment. However, this growth only looks good in the context of a very weak labor market. Jobs in this sector grew at a rate of 48,000 a month between September of 2009 and January of 2010 without setting off any subsequent boom in full-time hires. Temp employment is still down by roughly 20 percent from its pre-recession level.

In case you were worried that the new health care law, the so-called “government takeover of health care,” was going to hurt the profits of the completely unnecessary private health insurance middlemen, don’t be.