The
Labor Market Insights report provides a monthly overview of key labor market statistics.
As the changing workforce and economic conditions continue to be top of mind for workers compensation executives, this valuable resource delivers timely perspectives on what the latest jobs reports mean for the industry. The
data and insights shared in this monthly publication are designed to provide just-in-time information to help industry leaders make informed decisions.
Key Insights:
- In January 2026, the economy added a robust 130,000 jobs overall, including 172,000 jobs in the private sector. Both numbers vastly exceeded economists’ expectations. The three-month average for private sector employment growth was 103,000.
At an industry level, January’s employment growth was still largely concentrated in health care, which accounted for 123,500 of the 172,000 jobs gained in the private sector. However, January also saw strong gains of 34,000 jobs in professional services and 33,000 jobs in construction, both key areas for workers compensation premium. - January saw a second consecutive decrease in the unemployment rate while prime age labor force participation rose to its highest level since January 2000. These data points may be an early signal that the labor market is starting to strengthen.
Annual Benchmark Revisions: This report also incorporated the benchmark revisions that were announced in August of last year. The final revisions lowered employment between April 2024 and March 2025 by 862,000 jobs. This brought full-year employment gains to 1.5 million jobs for 2024, down from 2 million, and to just 181,000 jobs for 2025, down from 584,000. With an average of 15,000 jobs added per month, 2025 saw the slowest pace of employment growth outside of a recession since 2003.
Big Picture: It was a strong start to 2026 for the labor market overall; however, recent revisions have been skewed to the downside, suggesting more information will be needed before we gain more confidence in a labor market rebound.
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