P&C Carrier Employment Climbs in February; Agents/Brokers Shed Jobs

Property and casualty carrier employment climbed in February, but only enough to offset a downward revision of January’s numbers, according to an analysis of the latest U.S. Labor Department Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

Robert Hartwig, Insurance Information Institute President, says in his analysis of the figures that the January 2013 P&C carrier employment figure was originally 521,600, but was revised down to 520,600, “so the February number can be seen either as a gain from a revised 520,600, or as a retention of the previously-reported level.”

Hartwig says drawing longer-term conclusions from the February data is challenging, as interpretations differ depending on the period examined. “For example,” Hartwig explains, “for the 12 months ending in February 2013, P&C-carrier employment rose by 6,000 (up 1.2 percent). In contrast, for the 24 months ending in February 2013, P&C carrier employment dropped by 13,400 (from 535,000, down 2.5 percent).”

He notes that technology and productivity have affected carrier employment over the years, enabling carriers to do more work with fewer people.

Overall, says Hartwig, P&C carrier employment is currently about where it was in early Spring 1993.

Agents and brokers lost 1,000 jobs in February compared to January, which Hartwig says is “somewhat unusual.” He explains, “[I]n the 24 Februarys starting in 1990...agent/broker employment grew 16 times, was flat once and fell seven times.”

He notes that agent/broker employment has been roughly flat for the last five months, after rising for the most part since August 2010. Compared to February 2012, agent/broker employment is up by 8,300 jobs.

Overall, the insurance industry added 300 jobs in February compared to January, with total employment standing at 2,347,700. P&C carriers and third-party administration showed the largest gains at 1,000 jobs each (although, as noted earlier, the P&C carrier gain offsets January’s downward revision).

Life direct companies saw the largest monthly employment drop, shedding 1,300 jobs, followed by agents and brokers (down by 1,000) and claims adjusters (down by 900).