The insurance carriers and related activities sector remained strong in the first quarter of 2021. Initially, the BLS reported a loss of 9,300 insurance jobs for January 2021, marking the first decline since recovery from COVID-19’s impact began in May 2020. However, the BLS revised this number to reflect an increase of 2,300 jobs in January and a loss of just 4,900 roles in February. Accounting for BLS adjustments and a reported increase of 11,200 roles in March 2021, the insurance carriers and related activities sector continues to grow, employing 31,800 more individuals than it did in March 2020.
Industry unemployment slightly increased to 2.6% in March; yet unemployment remains low. For comparison, the larger financial activities industry saw an unemployment rate of 3.4% in March and professional and business services experienced a 6.7% unemployment rate. The general economy is also gaining momentum in relation to job growth. Nearly 1 million positions were added in March and unemployment decreased to 6%.
 | Unemployment for the insurance carriers and related activities sector increased to 2.6% in March. |
 | The insurance carriers and related activities sector added 11,200 jobs in March. |
 | The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 6% in March with the addition of 916,000 jobs. |
 | At roughly 2.9 million jobs, industry employment increased by approximately 31,800 jobs compared to March 2020. |
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
- On a year-to-year basis, February* insurance industry employment saw job increases in title (up 6.8%), agents/brokers (up 1.7%), life/health (up 1.2%) and property and casualty (up 0.2%). Meanwhile, job decreases were seen for claims (down 10.4%), TPAs (down 4.4%) and reinsurance (down 3.9%).
- On a year-to-year basis, February* saw weekly wage increases in reinsurance (up 13.7%), property and casualty (up 8.7%), agents/brokers (up 4.7%) and life/health (up 2.8%). Meanwhile, wage decreases were seen for claims (down 1.8%) and title (down 1.6%). TPA wages did not change.
BLS Reported Adjustments: Adjusted employment numbers for January show the industry saw a decrease of 8,900 jobs, compared to the previous reported decrease of 9,300 jobs. The BLS continues to revise numbers to be most accurate, which may contribute to inconsistencies, depending on when reports were pulled.
*The BLS reports on wages and employment for the industry category are only available for two months prior.
The source for the data represented in PULSE is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Insurance data is derived from the insurance carriers and related activities sector.