From an impending recession to falling unemployment claims, here are seven economic and employment updates Becker's reported on in September. 

Licensed practical nurses earn the highest salary in the Pacific region, according to data from Medscape's RN/LPN Compensation Report 2022. 

Burien, Wash.-based family practice physician and cosmetic surgeon Kristine Brecht, MD, had her license suspended after she was caught performing plastic surgeries she had been ordered to stop performing, local NBC affiliate KING5 reported Sept. 30. 

San Jose, Calif., is the most expensive major city in the U.S. for 2022, according to an Oct. 3 report from CNBC. 

A fourth of the 400 wealthiest people in the U.S. in 2022 went to one of 11 universities, with the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) producing the highest number of wealthy alumni, according to an article published Oct. 2 by Forbes. 

Mason City-based MercyOne North Iowa Bariatric Surgery is relocating to support an expansion, KIMT reported Sept. 30.

Eighty-three percent of Americans reported seeing or facing "quiet firing" in the workplace in the last year, according to a Sept. 30 report from CNBC. 

In its 2022 "Physicians Rate Healthcare Access Report." Medscape laid out the regions where physicians are reporting patients having difficulty paying bills over the last 5 years. 

Forty-five percent of workers earning over six figures a year report that they are living from paycheck to paycheck, up from 38 percent last year, according to a Sept. 30 report from CNBC. 

Ten people whose wealth is rooted in the healthcare industry made Forbes' 2022 list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, based on data from September 2022: 

Richmond, Va.-based physician Salman Akbar, MD, agreed to pay $50,000 in penalties for issuing prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. Justice Department said Sept. 29.

Former Arlington, Va., physician's office manager Candie Calix, 40, was sentenced to seven years in prison for her role as the ringleader of a decade-long oxycodone distribution network, the Justice Department said Sept. 28.

Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Pasadena topped Definitive Healthcare's list of physician groups with the most practice members. 

The majority of U.S. companies offer coveted employee benefits including mental health coverage, family care benefits and 401(k) plans, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's "2022 Employee Benefits Survey" of 3,129 HR professionals. 

Santa Ana, Calif.-based physician Mohammed El-Nachef, MD, pleaded guilty to defrauding California's Medi-Cal system by prescribing medically unnecessary drugs to more than 1,000 patients, The Telegraph reported Sept. 28. 

Fifty-one percent of physicians believe that opioid and substance misuse among other physicians increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Medscape's 2022 "Substance and Opioid Abuse Report." 

The Biden administration announced a $20,000-per-individual student loan forgiveness program that will apply to around 8 million students nationwide. Here are six things to know about medical student loan forgiveness, according to a Sept. 27 report from CNBC: 

On par with the trend towards physician employment, younger physicians are less likely to be self-employed, according to Medscape's "Young Physician Compensation Report 2022."

Fifty-one percent of physicians view healthcare access as the top social issue of 2022, according to Medscape's "Physicians Rate Healthcare Access" report. 

From a donation from the Gates Foundation, to the establishment of a pediatric gastrointestinal center, here are 10 ASC, gastrointestinal and ophthalmic donations Becker's has reported on in 2022.