The property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry contributes more than $40 billion annually to New York's economy, an industry group said in a recently released report.
The report by New York First Inc. also said the industry will support more than 152,000 jobs annually, produce over $200 billion in output and pay more than $66 billion in wages and salaries over a five-year period between 2016 and 2020.*
"The property-casualty insurance industry underpins die New York State economy," Richard MacDonald, cochair of New York First said in a news release. "This report shows just how important it is to die state's job market tax base, and financial security."
MacDonald also serves as board chair of DeWitt-based Big I New York, the state's oldest insurance-producer trade association, and is VP and director of sales at Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Inc. in Salina.
Big I New York is the former Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. (IABNY).
Formed in 2004, New York First is a coalition of insurance companies licensed to do business in New York that support the independent-agency system. Through industry research, legislative and regulatory advocacy on common issues, New York First says it "advances issues to support the independent agency system..."
Report findings
Goss & Associates and the Goss Institute for Economic Research, both headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, prepared the report
It estimated that the P&C industry will produce $202.9 billion for the state economy between 2016 and 2020. It will provide $66.3 billion in wages and salaries and $7.8 billion in self-employment income.
Productivity growth in New York's insurance sector has been 2.33 times that of the insurance industry nationwide.
New York P&C firms supported wages per job of $85,270 in 2016 - about 45 percent above the state average. The industry will support an average of 152,775 jobs per year between 2017 and 2020, the report found.
Every 1,000 New York P&C jobs support 1,550 non-P&C jobs in the state.
Between 2006 and 2015, P&C companies' purchases of New York municipal bonds reduced the bonds' interest rates by 0.45 percent, saving state taxpayers $153.6 million annually, for a total savings of $1.5 billion, the analysis found. The P&C industry invests one-third of its fixed-income investment portfolio in state and local municipal bonds.
*The industry produced $2.4 billion in state and local taxes in 2016. It will generate another $9.5 billion between 2017 and 2020. Each P&C industry job creates almost $41,000 in state and local taxes annually