September 2022: Labor Market Pulse

Posted by The Jacobson Group

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The industry’s labor market remains strong with accelerating wage growth and continued low unemployment. Wage inflation for the industry is high, trending toward an overall 6.3 aggregate percent increase in 2022, compared to just 0.8 in 2021. This increase is even more pronounced for property and casualty carriers, which are trending toward a 10.5 aggregate percent increase, compared to -0.3 in 2021; and life and health carriers, which are trending toward 7.4, compared to 0.8 in 2021.

Along with industry wage growth, we’re also seeing a substantial increase in open positions within the broader finance and insurance category. In June 2022, the BLS reported a record number of 401,000 open finance and insurance positions. This number has since been revised to 476,000 open positions, with July* 2022 keeping pace at a reported 473,000 open positions. Combined with low unemployment and changing employee expectations, hiring remains incredibly challenging across the industry. In fact, our Q3 2022 Insurance Labor Market Study found nearly half of insurers are having more difficulty hiring than they were one year ago.
 
AT-A-GLANCE NUMBERS

Pulse-Icons-25Unemployment for the insurance carriers and related activities sector decreased to 1.7% in August. 
Pulse-Icons-07The insurance carriers and related activities sector gained 5,400 jobs in August.
Pulse-Icons-20At roughly 2.8 million jobs, industry employment increased by approximately 49,400 jobs compared to August 2021.
Pulse-Icons-28The U.S. unemployment rate increased to 3.7% in August and the overall economy added 315,000 jobs.

 

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS

  • On a year-to-year basis, July* insurance industry employment saw job increases in agents/brokers (up 3.6%), TPAs (up 3%), property and casualty (up 1.3%), and life/health (up 0.8%). Meanwhile, job decreases were seen in claims (down 6.1%), title (down 1.7%), and reinsurance (down 1.1%).
  • On a year-to-year basis, July* saw weekly wage increases in property and casualty (up 7.7%), claims (up 5.4%), life/health (up 5.3%), agents/brokers (up 4.9%), title (up 4.8%), and TPAs (up 2.8%). Meanwhile, wages decreased in reinsurance (down 1.7%). 

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BLS Reported Adjustments: Adjusted employment numbers for July show the industry saw an increase of 2,400 jobs, compared to the previously reported increase of 6,200 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, as well as its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 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.