Property and casualty insurers shed 1,400 jobs in April comparedto March, an unusual occurrence that bucks the recent trend ofemployment gains for April, according to Insurance InformationInstitute President Robert Hartwig.

In a I.I.I. analysis of the latest U.S. Labor Department'sBureau of Labor Statistics data, Hartwig notes that P&C carrieremployment increased in 17 of the 24 Aprils from 1990 to 2013. Healso says that employment for this subsector has stayed in a rangefrom 515,000 to 523,000 since September 2011, but adds that rangeis well below the employment figures from 1997 to 2005.

Hartwig contends that "technology and productivity have affectedemployment, enabling carriers to do more work with fewer people:P&C carrier employment is now about where it was in the latespring 1993."

Compared to April 2012, P&C carrier employment is up by4,400 jobs.

Agents and brokers also lost jobs in April compared to March,but Hartwig says this is normal for the time of year. He notes, "Inthe 14 Aprils starting in 2000…agent/broker employment grew fourtimes, was flat once, and fell nine times." He adds that agent andbroker employment has generally risen since August 2010.

Still, the subsector has now shed jobs in each month going backto December 2012. Agents and brokers shed 500 jobs in March, 1,000in February, 300 in January, and 1,200 in December. In his analysesfor all of those months, Hartwig called the drops unusual comparedto historical trends.

Year-over-year though, the story for agents and brokers isbrighter, as they have added 4,500 jobs since April2012. 

The insurance industry overall lost 800 jobs in April. Asidefrom P&C carriers and agents and brokers, claims adjusters,title and other direct and third party administrators shed jobs inthe month. Reinsurers, life direct, health/medical direct and "allother insurance-related activities" added jobs.