Insurance job counts leapt in April; P&C & brokerage counts up in March

Employment in the broad US insurance industry may have increased by as much as 15,000 in April, helping ease concerns of a top-off in post-pandemic hiring visible in key segments since at least Q4 2022, a data print from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated.

The April increase, if confirmed in a month's time, would be a 0.5% increase industry-wide after an already strong 5100 increase in the prior month. April would tie for the third greatest monthly gain of all time, still well behind a surge in April just one year ago.

The March gain, toned down from the initial reading, had been focused on the direct P&C carriers and the agencies and brokerages that have been most crucial to the job gains seen in the industry, updated data indicated.

Direct P&C carriers accounted for a strong 2900 of the 5100 net gains in the industry in March. also the strongest month since April 2022 and the 21st month of gains over the past 22 months since the industry first started recouping pandemic-era job losses.

Agencies and brokerages added 1900 jobs in April, a welcome respite from two months of heavy losses, leaving the segment still 6300 down YTD.

In February, Agencies and brokerages had suffered their third worst month in history, crowing a period of volatility visible already in H2 2022.

Agencies and brokerages had been the mainstay for job counts through the pandemic, offsetting job losses in insurance carriers that had run through Q2 2021 for P&C carriers and through Q1 2023 for life and health.

Employment in direct life, health and medical insurance carriers was up by 2200 after a rugged prior month reading, but the recovery since the Q2 2022 bottom remains somewhat unconvincing.

The job count in claims adjusting was down for the fifth straight month and is now down nearly 10% year on year.

For the broader US economy, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 253,000 in April, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.4%.

Employment continued to trend up in professional and business services, health care, leisure and hospitality, and social assistance, the BLS report indicated.

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