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Financial activities employment shrinks, insurance among weaker areas
BLS data show financial activities employment is down 121,000 from its May 2025 peak, with credit intermediation and insurance both cutting jobs in July.
Financial activities employment is shrinking, and insurance is among the weaker areas, according to analysis of U.S. Labor Department data cited by Insurance Business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report shows jobs in the financial activities category are down 121,000 from a recent peak in May 2025, with the category spanning banking, credit intermediation, securities and funds, real estate, and insurance carriers.
The pullback has not been uniform across finance. In July alone, credit intermediation fell by 9,000 jobs, outpacing insurance's 7,000-job decline, Insurance Business notes. Looking earlier, BLS material for May 2025 pointed to commercial banking cutting 3,000 jobs that month alongside insurance's decline, while financial activities overall fell 22,000 in January and 49,000 since the May 2025 peak.
Insurance Business also says the downturn can be tracked through the raw seasonally adjusted series for insurance carriers and related activities on the St. Louis Federal Reserve's FRED database, which provides a longer view than any single monthly print. The article adds that healthcare-focused insurance has additional pressure points, including rising medical and pharmacy costs, Medicaid funding cuts, and margin pressure.
Becker's Payer Issues, cited in the piece, reported that insurance carriers and related activities employed about 2.96 million workers as of April, down from roughly 3.02 million at the end of 2024, and that the sector shed jobs in each of the first four months of 2026. Health insurer Centene also confirmed to Becker's in mid-June that it was offering staff a voluntary separation program, signaling ongoing cost cutting in the payer industry.