The I.I.I. says that ??in September, P-C carrier employment dropped by 0.7% vs. August, to 462,200. Although the upticks in June and August suggested that the long downward trend might have ended, the drop in September—to the lowest employment level in at least 20 years—says that the downward trend is continuing. In some respects this is to be expected, given the multi-year slide in NWP, and the pressure to reduce expenses to offset the loss of investment income from the low levels of prevailing interest rates.
Employment in the U.S. reinsurance industry rose again in September; it’s up over 1,000 since the start of 2010. The recession and the premium cycle has taken its toll on the number of agents and brokers, which slid again and is now down over 53,000 from the peak in December 2007.
On the life insurance carrier side, employment dropped by 500 jobs (0.15%) to 342,800, but still above its recent lowest point in March 2005 (314,800 employed). Health insurers shed 2,400 jobs in September vs. August and are down 10,000 for the 12 months ending in September 2010.