While U.S. hiring cooled in July, the insurance sector recorded a gain of 7,500 jobs, reversing a decline from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In June, the industry lost 1,600 positions. But on a year-over-year basis, insurance employment continued to climb, reaching 3.03 mn jobs in July—up from 3.01 mn in June 2024.
Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in July (+73,000) and has shown little change since April. The unemployment rate, at 4.2%, also changed little in July. Employment continued to trend up in health care and in social assistance. Federal government continued to lose jobs.
Labor data for June and May were heavily revised. June’s initially reported 147,000 jobs added was slashed to 14,000. May’s estimate dropped from 144,000 to just 19,000. Combined, the revisions reflect a two-month net downward shift of 258,000 positions. The three-month average for job growth now stands at just 35,000.
“These kinds of revisions are unusual,” said Stephen Cooper, executive director and senior economist at the National Council on Compensation Insurance. He noted that BLS cited no external shocks or anomalies—only routine updates based on late-arriving data.
Cooper said the revised numbers point to a weaker labor market than previously indicated. He added that while hiring may remain unpredictable, wage growth and hours worked still trended upward in July. Overall payroll growth for the month came in at 5%.
In the insurance sector, direct property/casualty carriers led hiring from May to June, adding 4,600 positions. Direct title and other direct insurers followed with 900 new roles, while agencies and brokerages added 700.
Meanwhile, reinsurer employment held steady at 30,400 jobs.
The largest losses occurred among pharmacy benefit managers and third-party administrators, which shed 2,100 positions. Direct life, health, and medical insurers cut 1,400 jobs, while claims adjusting roles dropped by 900.
The BLS releases overall insurance payroll data monthly on a seasonally adjusted basis. Industry-specific segments are reported separately, without seasonal adjustment, and reflect employment from the previous month.
The U.S. labor market displayed mixed signals in July, with increases in long-term unemployment and new job seekers, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of new entrants—people actively seeking their first job—rose by 275,000 to 985,000 in July. Long-term unemployed individuals, defined as those jobless for 27 weeks or longer, increased by 179,000 to 1.8 mn. They now represent nearly a quarter (24.9%) of the total unemployed population.
The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.2%, though it has declined by 0.5 percentage points over the past year. The employment-population ratio remained unchanged at 59.6%, down 0.4 points year-over-year.
Roughly 4.7 mn people worked part time for economic reasons in July, a figure that showed little monthly change. These workers typically sought full-time roles but settled for reduced hours due to limited opportunities or employer cutbacks.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job stood at 6.2 mn, mostly unchanged from June but up by 568,000 compared to last year.
These individuals are not counted as unemployed because they either haven’t searched for work in the past four weeks or were unavailable to accept employment.
Within this group, 1.7 mn were classified as marginally attached to the labor force, a figure that also remained steady. These individuals had looked for work in the past 12 months but not in the last four weeks.
Discouraged workers—a subset of the marginally attached who believe no jobs are available for them—fell by 212,000 in July to 425,000, reversing a spike reported in June.
The latest data reflects a cooling labor market with growing slack, particularly among new job seekers and long-term unemployed workers.
Each year, the establishment survey estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for the month of March. These counts are derived from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file.
