April 2026: Labor Market PULSE

Posted by The Jacobson Group

AT-A-GLANCE LABOR MARKET NUMBERS

Unemployment for the insurance carriers and related activities sector decreased to 1.8% in May. Unemployment for the insurance carriers and related activities sector decreased to 1.4% in March.
The insurance carriers and related activities sector gained 4,800 jobs in May. The insurance carriers and related activities sector lost 5,700 jobs in March.
At more than 3 million jobs, industry employment increased by approximately 37,800 jobs compared to May 2023. Industry employment decreased by approximately 54,400 jobs compared to March 2025.
The U.S. unemployment rate slightly increased to 4% in May and the overall economy added 257,000 jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.3% in March and the overall economy gained 178,000 jobs.

INSURANCE INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS

  • On a year-to-year basis, February* insurance industry employment was unchanged for and agents/brokers. Increases were seen for title (up 1.5%). Meanwhile, jobs decreased in claims (down 20.3%), life/health (down 2.9%) and reinsurance (down 1.9%) property and casualty (down 0.5%), TPAs (down 0.5%).
  • On a year-to-year basis, January saw weekly earnings increases in all categories: title (up 5.7%), agents/brokers (up 6.7%), TPAs (up 3.4%), claims (up 2.2%), and property and casualty (up 1.9%). **
  • Within the larger finance and insurance sector, job openings decreased by 3,000 to 337,000 for February,* but remained elevated compared to last year.
  • The rate of voluntary quits within finance and insurance has hovered between 1% and 1.1% for the last five months.
 

Notes:

The BLS continues to revise numbers to be most accurate, which may contribute to inconsistencies, depending on when reports were pulled. 

*The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report and reports on wages and employment for the industry category are only available for two months prior.

**The BLS has not reported on reinsurance and life/health insurance earnings since December 2024.

The source for the data represented in PULSE is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Insurance data is derived from the insurance carriers and related activities sector.