US insurance hiring swings again in Oct, agents & brokers in focus

The broad US insurance industry may have hired back in October what it let go in September, amid increasing volatility in employment levels within industry sub-segments.

An initial reading on employment in the broad US insurance industry showed 9400 added jobs in October, a 0.3% gain, enough to reverse what had been a harsh downward move the month prior, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggested.

That would more than put paid to prior month declines. September job losses were not quite as deep as initially feared:  the industry pared back 8800 jobs instead of the 9300 initially reported.

Employment in agencies and brokerages has turned volatile. The sub-segment had driven the broader job recoveries throughout the pandemic.

Agencies and brokerages shed 5000 jobs to wipe out prior month gains, the single largest monthly decline since a one-month jolt at the onset of the pandemic. Prior to that, you have to go back to the financial crisis.

That comes as a correction to a long-running trend of strength. Employment in agencies and brokerages remains 7.5% above pre-pandemic levels, having only fallen below the pre-pandemic level for several months early on.

Other insurance related activities, which includes claims adjusting, suffered its second worst monthly decline in job counts in history, shedding 6500 jobs to levels not seen since Q2 2021 and not common since early 2020.

Employment in P&C carriers rose by 1400 during the month, the sixth straight month of increase after a long losing streak, to render a 1.7% annual increase. The segment is still 6.1% down from pre-pandemic levels.

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