January Jobs Report was Good…Perfect? (Feb. ’26)

Perfect, that is, viewed thru the lens of workers’ comp writers. The January jobs report smashed expectations producing 130K jobs vs. some 55k expected. Looking under the covers, some 123.5K of the jobs stemmed from healthcare with jobs in many other industries flattish or down. That’s relevant because WC claims in T&W decline as job growth slows (safer, longer-tenured employees) but in healthcare the opposite is true – WC claims slow as more employees are added. Safer teams of people. Perfect!