P&C Carriers Add Jobs in May While Agent/Broker Slide Continues

In a mixed month for insurance-industry employment, P&C carries added 1,100 jobs in May while agents and brokers shed jobs for the sixth straight month, albeit at a slower rate.

According to an Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) analysis of the latest U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures, P&C-carrier employment increased from 521,800 in April to 522,900 in May. I.I.I. President Robert Hartwig notes that this subsector has typically added jobs in May (it fell in only 8 of the 24 Mays from 1990 through 2013). 

The gain of 1,100 jobs in May follows a loss of 1,400 jobs for P&C carriers in April. Speaking to the employment trends for the subsector, Hartwig notes, “Considering recent consecutive months, it’s hard to tell what’s happening. From February 2011 to February 2012, P&C employment fell by 19,400, down 3.6 percent. But from February 2012 to February 2013, P&C carrier employment rose by 6,200, up 1.2 percent.”

Compared to May 2012, P&C-carrier employment is up by 5,100.

For agents and brokers, an employment slide that began in December 2012 continued in May, as the subsector shed 100 jobs. But May’s figure is the lowest amount of jobs lost since the slide began. Agents and brokers shed 600 jobs in April, 500 in March, 1,000 in February, 300 in January and 1,200 in December.  

Hartwig says the dip in May is “somewhat atypical; in the 24 Mays starting in 1990, for example, agent and broker employment grew 14 times, was flat 4 times, and fell 6 times.”

He adds, “In a broader context, agent and broker employment, currently 661,300, had been generally rising from August 2010, when it was 637,700, but has backed off from a peak of 663,900 in November 2012.”

Compared to May 2012, agent and broker employment is up by 1,000.

Among other industry subsectors, reinsurance-carrier employment in the U.S. was up by 300, to 26,000. Claims adjusting employment was flat at 50,800. “This is likely driven by lessened demand for adjusters following closure of claims from Superstorm Sandy,” Hartwig says.

Overall, the insurance industry gained 900 jobs in May compared to April, with total employment standing at 2,349,000.