NU Online News Service, Aug. 8, 12:29 p.m.EDT
|Property and casualty insurer employment rose in June for thefifth straight month, raising hopes that carriers have reversed thedownward employment trend that began in 2008.
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In an analysis of the latest U.S. Labor Department'sBureau of Labor Statistics, Robert Hartwig, Insurance InformationInstitute president, says P&C carrier employment typicallyrises in June. Since 1990, which is as far back as the BLS datagoes, carrier employment rose in June every year except one: 2009during the recession.
But the strong month of June, in which 1,000 P&C carrierjobs were added, continues a positive trend that started inFebruary, during which carriers have added 5,500 jobs. Hartwigwrites in his analysis, “Evidence for a change in the employmenttrend? Employment changes have been positive or flat for theFebruary-June span only seven times in the last 23 years; thishappened six times in the 1990-1999 decade, and in 2012.”
|Hartwig says P&C carriers will be in for a real test in twomonths, when August figures are released, as carrier employmenttends to fall in this month compared to July. Compared to June2011, P&C carrier employment is down by 3,800 jobs.
|Agents and brokers saw another strong month of employment gainsin June, adding the most amount of jobs in May (3,100) than anyother insurance subsector. The month follows a gain of 3,300 in Mayand 3,700 in June. Hartwig says the latest employment count foragents and brokers is the highest since December 2008, but stillunder pre-recession numbers.
|The insurance industry as a whole, including the P&C andlife and health sectors, added 7,300 jobs in June, raising totalemployment to 2,291,700. All subsectors reported gains for themonth except for “title and other direct,” which shed 400 jobsduring the month.
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