US Jobs Report: Insurance Industry Posts Uptick as National Employment Holds Steady

The U.S. insurance industry added 3,200 jobs in May, showing the first significant increase the industry has seen in almost a year. The overall economy remained relatively flat, adding just 54,000 jobs during the month, according to the latest employment report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-to-year basis, industry employment, now standing at 2.26 million jobs, is down 1.2% since May 2010.

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Following revisions made by the bureau, the industry posted a 0.1% decline in April, losing 2,200 positions across the country. The bureau had previously reported losses of 2,300 (BestWire, May 6, 2011).

Coming on the heels of a razor-thin 0.04% uptick in March, the past three months’ employment numbers may indicate that the bleeding the insurance industry has seen over the past year is slowing.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1% from 9.0% in April. Hiring in professional and business services accounted for the vast majority of the overall economy’s increase in jobs. Those sectors added 44,000 jobs in May.

Total insurance industry payrolls are reported each month on a seasonably adjusted basis, along with the current month’s nonfarm payrolls. Separately, data by industry segment — broken out by various insurance carrier and noncarrier categories — are available only on an unadjusted basis for the prior month.

Based on just-released April 2011 data, reinsurance continued to buck the trend as the one industry sector that has added jobs since last year. On a year-to-year comparison: life insurance employment, down 1.3% to 372,000; health and medical insurance, down 4.1% to 418,500; property/casualty, down 1.8% to 457,400; title insurance, down 1.5% to 65,900; agents and brokers, down 0.03% to 637,700; claims adjustment, down 2.1% to 47,600; and third-party administration, down 0.92% to 129,400. The number of reinsurance jobs ticked up 1.9% to 27,200.

All insurance sectors other than title insurance continued to see increases in weekly wages on a year-to-year comparison. Life insurance wages, $1043.80, were up 1.6%; health and medical insurance, $1048.59, up 5.9%; property/casualty, $1064.31, up 4.9%; agents and brokers, $827.50, up 3.7%; claims adjusting, $966.17, up 6.1%; and third-party administration, $785.51, up 2.8%. Reinsurance posted by far the largest year-to-year increase, jumping 22.5% to $1119.95.

At the other end of the spectrum, title insurance wages fell 15% to $807.35.

(By Jeff Jeffrey, Washington Correspondent: jeff.jeffrey@ambest.com)