Brokerages & agencies led April jobs surge with record monthly hires

Brokerages and agencies led the outsized gain in US insurance industry employment in April with a record month of net hires, albeit amid early hints of a May pullback, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed.

For the broader insurance industry, the April hiring spree, originally pegged at a multi-decade high of 19,400, was increased for the revised count to 21,000 net additions.

That gain included an all-time record net increase of 8,400 jobs amongst agencies and brokerages, the second largest net increase for any of the five key industry sub-categories tracked by BLS in at least three decades.

Brokers and agencies have been the best performing segment for five of the past six months and total employment is now up 33,000 or 3.8% year on year, more than accommodating the annual decline still visible amongst insurance carriers.

Amongst carriers, employment rose by a net 5,700 or 0.6% for the month in life, health and medical carriers, above the 2,800 or 0.5% gain noted for direct P&C. Employment in reinsurers has been flat for roughly five months and is now down some 2.9% year on year.

Preliminary figures for May suggest the broader US insurance industry retreated from the April surge with a 0.2% net employment decline. The update to those figures along with the early read on June is due for publication late on July 8.

May job losses for the insurance sector contrasted with a total increase in nonfarm payrolls of 390,000. Job gains were said notable in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, and in transportation and warehousing.

The BLS presents employment data on a monthly timetable based on surveys of employers. The statistical estimates are seasonally adjusted, predominantly to account for calendar effects (4-week vs 5-week months in payroll schedules).

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