The US Economy Unexpectedly Lost 92,000 Jobs in February

Finance and insurance job openings toward the end of 2025 fell to 13-year lows, according to February data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, with markets commentary outlet The Kobeissi Letter arguing on Saturday that the industry may be “bracing for more layoffs.”

In an X post, The Kobeissi Letter highlighted data showing that finance and insurance job openings have declined by 117,000 since December to hit 134,000 last month, with overall finance and insurance job listings nearing recession levels. 

“Available vacancies in these sectors have dropped -410,000, or -75%, since the 2022 peak. Openings are now even lower than at the 2001 recession bottom,” The Kobeissi Letter said, adding:

“By comparison, the largest monthly decline during the 2008 Financial Crisis was -125,000. As a result, the finance and insurance job openings rate fell to 1.9%, meaning fewer than 2 out of every 100 jobs in the sector are currently vacant, the lowest since February 2010.”

Finance jobs increased despite challenges 

Despite a fall in job openings in December, the finance sector was actually one of the bright spots of a US Bureau of Labor Statistics report on Friday, showing that while US unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs in February, the “financial activities” sector posted a net employment gain of 10,000.

The bureau instead highlighted the healthcare sector as one of the key drivers behind the 92,000 net loss, following a four-week healthcare strike by Kaiser Permanente employees that ended late last month. The healthcare sector lost 28,000 jobs in the month, accounting for 30% of the total.