Jobs Report: Insurance Industry Growth Continues by Adding 2,300 Jobs in August
September 8, 2015 by Thomas Harman, Washington Bureau manager, BestWeek: Tom.Harman@ambest.com
WASHINGTON – The U.S. insurance industry added 2,300 jobs in August, according to figures released Sept. 4 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The seasonally adjusted 0.09% increase for July over June shows a continuation of insurance industry growth. The growth rate for August was less than the 0.36% adjusted growth rate reported for July.
Updates to BLS data show the insurance industry added 9,300 between June and July, after initially reporting an increase of 9,600 jobs in July (Best’s News Service, Aug. 7, 2015). The adjusted number was slightly less than the 10,400 jobs the industry added between May and June. The most jobs added in one month during the industry’s job growth run were the 11,000 between December 2014 and January 2015.
Overall insurance industry employment for August was 2,556,900, an increase of 80,000 jobs — about 3.23% above August 2014’s level.
Total nonfarm payroll employment nationwide increased by 173,000 in August, while the unemployment rate fell from 5.3% to 5.1%, the lowest level since 2008, according to the BLS. Job gains occurred in health care and social assistance, as well as in financial activities, while the mining and manufacturing industries lost jobs.
The private sector job increase of 140,000 in August is part of a 13.1 million increase in jobs during the past 66 consecutive months, extending the longest recorded streak of U.S. job growth, said Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
The BLS reports insurance industry total payrolls monthly on a seasonally adjusted basis, along with the current month’s non-farm payrolls. Separately, data by insurance industry segments — broken out by various insurance carrier and non-carrier categories — are available only on an unadjusted basis for the prior month.
Between June and July, only half of the industry sectors saw employment growth. Employment improved in direct life insurance carriers (up 0.91% to 365,100 jobs); claims adjusting (up 0.79% to 51,200 jobs); direct health and medical insurance carriers (up 0.56% to 520,200 jobs); and in insurance agencies and brokerages (up 0.44% to 737,900 jobs). Jobs remained flat in the direct title insurance and other direct insurance carriers sector, at 78,700 jobs. Jobs fell in three sectors — reinsurance carriers (down 0.39% to 25,600 jobs); third-party administration of insurance funds (down 0.33% to 178,800 jobs); and direct property/casualty insurers (down 0.09% to 527,700 jobs).
Seven of the eight insurance sectors showed job growth over July 2014, led by direct health and medical insurance carriers (up 5.35%); direct life insurance carriers (up 5.28%); third-party administration of insurance funds (up 4.75%); insurance agencies and brokerages (up 3.64%); reinsurance carriers (up 1.99%); direct title insurance and other direct insurance carriers (up 1.42%); and direct property/casualty insurers (up 1.11%). Only claims adjusting showed a drop, down 7.25%.
Wages increased in four of seven insurance sectors between June 2015 and July 2015, led by insurance agencies and brokerages (up 1.1%); direct title insurance and other direct insurance carriers (up 0.86%); direct life and health insurance carriers (up 0.69%); and reinsurance carriers (up 0.15%). Wages dropped in claims adjusting (down 2.35%); third-party administration of insurance funds (down 1.09%); and the direct property/casualty insurers sector (down 0.75%).
On an annual basis, wages remained higher in five of seven industry sectors in July 2015, led by reinsurance carriers (up 13.49%); direct title insurance and other direct insurance carriers (up 12.15%); direct property/casualty insurers (up 4.25%); insurance agencies and brokerages (up 1.59%); and direct life and health insurance carriers (up 1.5%). Wages fell year-to-year in July in third-party administration of insurance funds (down 5.34%); and claims adjusting (down 3.53%).