The insurance industry is losing jobs at more than four times last year’s pace, according to new data this month from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The sector, which includes life, health and property insurers, shed an average of about 8,200 positions per month through the first seven months of 2026, compared with about 1,900 per month across all of last year.
Insurers employed nearly 2.94 million people nationally as of July, down from about 3.02 million at the end of 2024, a loss of roughly 80,000 positions. The sector has lost jobs in every month of 2026, including about 11,900 in May, the steepest single-month decline.
Employment in the sector peaked in February 2025 at approximately 3.03 million. From that high, the industry has shed about 90,000 positions over the last 17 months, now exceeding the roughly 87,000 lost during the 33-month downturn from 2008 to 2011. The industry’s unemployment rate also rose to 3.3% in July from 1.7% in April.
A running list of workforce reductions among health insurers this year is here.
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