NU Online News Service, Oct. 12, 3:19 p.m.EDT

Salary budgets within the property and casualty insuranceindustry appear to be holding steady, with increases of 3.4 percentexpected for next year, according to a survey.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI)Insurance Compensation Survey found companies are projectingaverage 2010 salary budget increases of 3.4 percent--the samepercent increase reported in 2009. This compares to average salarybudget increases of 4 percent in 2008.

The PCI insurance compensation survey includes information forover 60 benchmark jobs in the property and casualty insuranceindustry.

PCI said 160 companies participated in the survey which providescurrent information about industry compensation practices.

This year's survey, PCI said, contains a new section on theeconomic conditions for the positions surveyed.

The organization said the section is important because itaddresses how organizations have been affected by the currenteconomic climate and what they plan to do in the future to adjustto the changing conditions.

Also new this year is information about the timing of salaryincreases. The survey contains a strong matched sample comparisonwhich helps prevent the data from being overly influenced byfluctuation of participants from year to year.

Copies of the survey can be purchased by contacting SwapnaThomas at [email protected].

PCI is composed of more than 1,000 member companies, who writeover $180 billion in annual premium, 37.4 percent of the nation'sproperty and casualty insurance.