Unemployment for the insurance industry continues to drop, reaching a record low in October. At 0.8% unemployment, this is the industry’s lowest unemployment rate in the BLS’s 20-year recorded history and only the second time it has dropped below 1%.
However, employment for insurance carriers and related activities continues to decrease, with a loss of roughly 17,000 jobs since the beginning of 2021. This could be due to a number of factors, including continued reshuffling and realignment, as well as new hires potentially not keeping pace with retirements. It’s likely we’ll continue to see shifts in the industry’s labor market as both employees and employers adjust to the changing landscape. Proactively retaining employees and building a strong bench of talent at all organizational levels remain vital as we close out 2021.
 | Unemployment for the insurance carriers and related activities sector decreased to 0.8% in October. |
 | The insurance carriers and related activities sector lost 900 jobs in October. |
 | At roughly 2.9 million jobs, industry employment decreased by approximately 11,100 jobs compared to October 2020. |
 | The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.6% in October and the overall economy added 531,000 jobs. |
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
- On a year-to-year basis, September* insurance industry employment saw job increases in title (up 10%), and agents/brokers (up 1.9%). Meanwhile, job decreases were seen for property and casualty (down 3%), reinsurance (down 1.1%), claims (down 1%) and life/health (down 0.6%). TPAs did not change.
- On a year-to-year basis, September* saw weekly wage increases in reinsurance (up 3.8%), TPAs (up 3%), life/health (up 1.1%), claims (up 0.9%) and agents/brokers (up 0.8%). Meanwhile, wage decreases were seen for title (down 3.6%) and property and casualty (down 0.9%).
BLS Reported Adjustments: Adjusted employment numbers for September show the industry saw a decrease of 2,500 jobs, compared to the previously reported decrease of 800 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.