NU Online News Service

The property-casualty insurance industry employs more than 580,000 persons and pays $34 billion in wages and salaries, according to the American Insurance Association.

According to the AIA Advocate publication's report on the p-c impact on the U.S. economy, the top five states providing employment for the property-casualty sector are California, Illinois, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania.

California has 55,977 such employees and pays $3.38 billion in salaries; Illinois, 52,424 employees and $3.5 billion in salaries; Texas, 40,407 employees and $2.33 billion in salaries; New York, 35,916 employees and $2.5 billion in salaries; and Pennsylvania, 34,703 employees and $1.76 billion in salaries.

AIA said the employment numbers were from the U.S. Census Bureau 2004 data and only included individuals directly employed by insurance companies. Not counted, it said, were hundreds of thousands of jobs in agencies, brokerages, reinsurance and other insurance-related services.

Among other statistics noted were $1,172 billion in investments held by p-c insurers in 2005, of which about $804 billion was in bonds. Insurers paid $14.8 billion in 2005 state premium taxes representing about 2.3 percent of all state tax revenue, AIA said.

The Advocate also mentioned that in Louisiana through Aug. 31, more than 900,000 claims totaling $17.4 billion were paid for damages from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, according to the state insurance department, and in Mississippi, $10.6 billion was paid for more than 480,000 claims.

In Florida, which sustained more damage from Hurricane Wilma, about one million claims were filed and nearly $9 billion in damages were paid, the AIA said.

"Without the essential property-casualty insurance system and its vital financial assistance to storm victims, the Gulf Coast might never recover from the storms that ravaged the area last year," the report said.

It also noted:

o P-C insurers reimbursed Americans nearly $94 billion in private passenger auto losses.

o P-C insurers compensated homeowners for more than $35 billion in insured losses.

o P-C insurers paid $131 billion in commercial insurance losses.

Special Reports /

P-C Insurers Have $34 Billion Payroll: AIA

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