On This Page
- About the Finance and Insurance sector
- BLS Data
- Workforce Statistics
- Earnings and Hours
- Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses
- Workplace Trends
The finance and insurance sector is part of the financial activities supersector.
The Finance and Insurance sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in financial transactions (transactions involving the creation, liquidation, or change in ownership of financial assets) and/or in facilitating financial transactions. Three principal types of activities are identified:
1. Raising funds by taking deposits and/or issuing securities and, in the process, incurring liabilities. Establishments engaged in this activity use raised funds to acquire financial assets by making loans and/or purchasing securities. Putting themselves at risk, they channel funds from lenders to borrowers and transform or repackage the funds with respect to maturity, scale, and risk. This activity is known as financial intermediation.
2. Pooling of risk by underwriting insurance and annuities. Establishments engaged in this activity collect fees, insurance premiums, or annuity considerations; build up reserves; invest those reserves; and make contractual payments. Fees are based on the expected incidence of the insured risk and the expected return on investment.
3. Providing specialized services facilitating or supporting financial intermediation, insurance, and employee benefit programs.
In addition, monetary authorities charged with monetary control are included in this sector.
North American Industry Classification System
The finance and insurance sector consists of these subsectors:
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in finance and insurance. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations
| Employment (in thousands) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) | 6,446.9 | 6,452.9 | (p)6,466.1 | (p)6,482.4 | |
| Unemployment | |||||
| Unemployment rate | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.1% | 3.6% | |
| Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands) | |||||
| Job openings | 212 | 221 | (p)213 | ||
| Hires | 152 | 163 | (p)147 | ||
| Separations | 125 | 121 | (p)178 | ||
| Footnotes (p) Preliminary |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)
Union Membership and Representation
| Union membership and representation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.2% | |
| Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 1.8% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Employment by Occupation
| Accountants and auditors | 113,860 |
|---|---|
| Insurance sales agents | 397,490 |
| Loan officers | 266,460 |
| Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents | 412,600 |
| Tellers | 432,420 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for finance and insurance.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
Weekly earnings by union membership status are shown. Recent hourly and annual earnings for occupations commonly found in educational services. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.
Union Membership and Representation
| Union membership and representation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time workers | $1,039 | $1,076 | $1,130 | $1,167 | |
| Members of unions | $818 | $980 | $909 | $1,033 | |
| Represented by unions | $853 | $964 | $948 | $1,062 | |
| Nonunion | $1,047 | $1,081 | $1,134 | $1,169 |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Earnings by Occupation
| Accountants and auditors | $36.75 | $41.38 | $76,440 | $86,070 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance sales agents | $24.55 | $32.65 | $51,060 | $67,900 |
| Loan officers | $29.98 | $36.22 | $62,360 | $75,330 |
| Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents | $29.56 | $44.57 | $61,480 | $92,710 |
| Tellers | $15.01 | $15.21 | $31,220 | $31,630 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
Employer Compensation Costs
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in finance and insurance. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.
| Fatalities | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of fatalities | 19 | 26 | 32 | 30 |
| Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
This section presents data on the number of establishments in finance and insurance.
Establishments
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
Data extracted on: October 15, 2020
