The U.S. insurance industry saw a 3.3 percent increase over November’s jobs figures, adding 3,300 jobs in December,
The BLS report notes that in November, the industry lost 100 jobs, and adjusted employment numbers for November 2011 that revealed little to no job growth between October and November.
The minor dip in insurance jobs in November primarily related to health (-0.8 percent to 420,700 jobs); property/casualty (-2 percent to 452,300 jobs); title insurance (-4.1 percent to 64,900 jobs); and third-party administration of funds (-1.1 percent to 127,200 jobs).
The BLS reported that the areas of life (+0.03 percent to 374,800 jobs); agents/brokers (+0.4 percent to 643,200 jobs); and claims adjusting (+0.2 percent to 48,400 jobs) experienced minor improvements. Reinsurance remained flat with 27,500 jobs.
Currently, the industry claims approximately 2.2 million jobs, up 0.39 percent since December 2010.
Counting all industries, overall national unemployment fell to 8.5 percent in November, with employment improvements seen in retail trade, transportation and warehousing.
With the exception of title insurance, which saw its average weekly wages fall 15.7 percent to $790.83, year over year wages across all insurance sectors tracked upwards, noted the BLS.
Life insurance weekly wages increased 0.8 percent to $1,033.54; health 4.6 percent to $1,054.53; property/casualty 5.1 percent to $1,085.06; agents/brokers 3 percent to $818.06; claims adjusting 10.07 percent to $1,035.12; and third-party administration of claims 5.6 percent to $821.71. Reinsurance saw the most dramatic increase in weekly wages, jumping 18.9 percent to $1,152.36.)
