NU Online News Service, Jan. 13, 12:05 p.m. EST

November’s employment numbers were mixed for the insurance industry, with an overall slight increase of less than 0.1 percent as the agent and broker workforce returned to January 2010 levels, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

In a review of employment trends released by I.I.I., overall employment numbers for the industry—which includes property and casualty, life and health, and other segments—showed a net increase of 1,700 jobs in November over October’s numbers. Total employment for the industry stood at 2.17 million.

I.I.I. president Robert P. Hartwig said in a statement that the data have not been seasonally adjusted and are a month behind the national data. Mr. Hartwig noted that any adjustment is usually small.

P&C carrier employment dropped 0.1 percent, or by 300 jobs, to 461,300 compared to October. The number is barely 100 above September, which was the lowest P&C carrier employment level in at least 20 years, said Mr. Hartwig.

He added that the upticks in P&C carrier employment back in June and August of last year “appear to be anomalies rather than indications of a reversal of the downward trend.”

Except for those two months, he said, P&C carrier employment has decreased, or been flat, every month since March of 2009.

The ranks of insurance agents and brokers rose 0.3 percent, or by 2,100 jobs, to 633,600 on a month over month basis, bringing the job numbers back to where they were at the start of 2010.

Other figures highlighted:

• U.S. reinsurance industry employment dropped by 200 jobs, or 0.8 percent, to 26,200. However, this segment is up by 1,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, said Mr. Hartwig.
• Life insurance carriers’ employment numbers rose 0.4 percent, or by 1,300 jobs, to 344,000.
• Health insurers shed 1,000 jobs in November compared to October. The industry is down 15,600 jobs for the 12 months ending in November 2010.
• Employment in claims adjusting was down by 100 jobs, or 0.2 percent, but that segment added 400 jobs in October. Mr. Hartwig noted that the November total is still higher than all the monthly reports from April to November with the exception of July.

“It is unclear whether the declines in carrier employment are attributable to improvements in productivity, cutbacks to match lower activity, or some combination, [or other forces],” Mr. Hartwig said. “As premium volumes begin to pick up in 2011, we will see whether one or the other of these hypotheses is supported.”