Why is the Higgs not considered 'a 5th force'?

[Gerinski]

In basic physics books the standard model used to be split in 'matter' (fermions) and 'force carriers' (bosons), and there are 4 fundamental forces, gravity, weak, strong and electromagnetic.
If the Higgs is a boson, why is it not considered as a force carrier and the Higgs be considered a '5th force'?
Should the standard model get a new 3rd split to accommodate the Higgs and if so what should it be called besides 'matter' and 'force carriers'? (perhaps it is already so, excuse my ignorance).
Thanks

 

[Vanadium 50]

If the Higgs is a boson, why is it not considered as a force carrier and the Higgs be considered a '5th force'?

It could be. It could also be considered part of the electroweak force. You're getting caught up in the terminology, when the science is described by the equations.

 

[mfb]

It can act like a force carrier - although it is not a gauge boson.
Some people count the electroweak interaction as just one, some add the Higgs as 5th or 4th... it doesn't really matter.