Insurance Sector Rounds Out 2013 With Significant Job Growth

Although the insurance industry got off to a rocky start in the beginning of 2013 by the end of the year the industry saw considerable in insurance job growth. InsuranceJobs.com, an insurance employment website for insurance professionals, provided an overview of key employment trends in the insurance industry for December 2013 based on preliminary statistics reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the monthly Employment Situation Economic Release.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report January 10, 2014 announcing a .13 percent increase in the number of workers in the insurance industry from November 2013 – December 2013. The insurance industry now employs 2.384 million workers compared to 2.381 million in December 2013. The statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are seasonally adjusted. All normal seasonally changes within the insurance industry have been discounted to provide exact monthly changes.

November marked six months of job growth for the insurance sector, a major feat in an economy where jobs are scarce. Specifically the insurance agent and broker subsectors are close to reaching their employment peak. The sectors have not seen numbers this high since July 2007 just before the economic recession of 2008. Right behind agents and brokers in job numbers are property/casualty insurers. These insurers added 1,800 jobs in November. Although this is a common occurrence for the P&C sector, which has experienced drastic growth the majority of Novembers since 1990, overall the most recent reports from BLS show the highest number of jobs for the sector since June 2011.

In conjunction with the increase of jobs the insurance industry has seen a decrease in its unemployment rate. The unemployment rate dropped to 2.9 percent in November and then dropped again in December to 2.8 percent.

Source: InsuranceJobs.com