Lingering low insurance rates are having an impact on hiring in the property-casualty industry, according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Insurers that sell coverage for property damage and corporate liability shed 3,200 jobs in September, a 0.7 percent drop in just one month, bringing employment in the sector to the lowest level in at least 20 years, according to an analysis from the Insurance Information Institute (III).

Property-casualty insurers now employ 462,200 people, down 2.9 percent from a year ago and 5.9 percent since the recession began in December 2007, compared with 7.2 percent in overall U.S. employment.

III noted that the latest decline came after upticks in June and August, which it said had suggested “the long downward trend might have ended.” The September data, however, “says that the downward trend is continuing,” III stated.

III said the trend also has hurt agents and brokers, where another 3,200 jobs were lost in September, a 0.5 percent drop from August and a 2.8 percent drop from a year ago, according to the latest data.

One of the industry's few bright spots was reinsurance, the companies that insurers turn to in order to offload some risk, where employment rose 1.1 percent from August and is now down just 0.4 percent from a year ago. However, this only accounted for 300 new jobs.

Special Reports /

Property-Casualty Employment Levels Hit 20-Year Low

Related Stories

Recommended For You