• The US Surgeon General released a report directly linking alcohol to cancer.
• A BI analysis found that spending on most kinds of alcohol has declined — especially among young adults.
• It's reflective of Gen Z's shifting habits when it comes to alcohol consumption.

By the time the US Surgeon General dropped its report linking alcohol to cancer on Friday, Americans had already been curbing their spending on booze over the last several decades — especially young people.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in his latest advisory that alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, following tobacco usage and obesity. He recommended updating warnings on alcohol packages to raise awareness of the harmful effects of drinking. However, doing so requires an act of Congress.

"For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol," Murthy wrote in a post on X on Friday. "As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk."

Do you plan to change your drinking habits in response to the Surgeon General's recommendation? Tell us why in this survey.

Many Americans have already been cutting back. Business Insider analyzed alcohol spending data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to get a sense of how alcoholic beverage consumption has changed. It showed that spending has decreased over the past few decades, especially among Americans under 25.

With spirits and beer in particular, Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows that personal spending as a share of personal consumption expenditures has dropped since 1959. Spending on wine as a share of personal spending, meanwhile, has seen a small uptick.

Additionally, expenditure data adjusted to 2023 dollars using the consumer price index shows that younger adults under 25 years old spent less on average than this age group years prior. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that spending on alcoholic beverages by Americans under 25 is similar to people aged 75 and over.

The decrease in alcohol spending among young people is reflective of Gen Z and millennials' shifting habits and priorities compared to other generations. A Gallup survey from 2023 found that 62% of adults under 35 said they drink, compared to 72% two decades ago, with some of them citing health concerns as a key reason.

Gen Z is also favoring more active settings like fitness groups to socialize instead of drinking, marking a shift in younger Americans' behaviors.

It's unclear how the alcohol industry will respond to Murthy's latest report. However, warning labels on alcoholic drinks have not been updated since the '80s, and Murthy urged Congress to take action by updating labels and revising recommended consumption limits to prevent cancer among the US population.

• Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency aims to reduce the number of federal workers.
• Business Insider looked at the highest average salaries of federal civilian employees by occupation.
• The top 20 had average salaries over $160,000, with medical officers ranking No. 1.

Federal workers who are employed as medical officers, ship pilots, and general attorneys earn lucrative pay on average — but their jobs might be at risk under President-elect Donald Trump's new government efficiency initiative.

Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The two leaders of the commission wrote in a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal that they will aim to slash government spending and reduce head count at federal agencies, meaning government workers are at risk of losing their jobs.

Using US Office of Personnel Management data as of March, Business Insider looked at the average salaries of federal civilian employees for all agencies to see who is earning the most on average among hundreds of occupations.

Three of the five jobs with the highest average salaries were health-related. Medical officers, who largely worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, had the highest average salary. Financial analysis workers rounded out the top 20 highest-paying jobs on average; their largest employer, with about 300 analysts, was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Most of the top jobs were classified as white-collar by OPM.

Looking at the average salaries of workers within cabinet-level agencies regardless of occupation, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy had the highest, with averages over $140,000.

Musk and Ramaswamy floated in the op-ed requiring all federal employees to come into the office five days a week, which may lead to higher voluntary turnover. Office of Personnel Management data showed around 1.3 million federal civilian workers as of March were "eligible to participate in telework," many of whom were professional and administrative workers.

"DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote.

Musk and Ramaswamy also suggested early retirement and severance packages to incentivize lower headcount but didn't provide further detail on the benefits they would offer impacted employees.

"The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail," Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, previously told BI when asked about DOGE's plan for spending cuts. "He will deliver."

Are you a federal worker worried about your employment or looking to move into the private sector? Reach out to these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected] to share.