Insurance industry adds 13,900 jobs in January

Our industry may not have put hundreds of thousands of people into employment last month, but every job counts, especially since the industry is facing an aging workforce. The latest job report for January released by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics last February 6, 2015 says that the industry added 13,900 jobs, a 0.55 percent growth for January, according to a press release by InsuranceJobs.com.

The career site also reported that the industry provides employment for 2.52 million workers and, over the past 12 months, that number has increased by 3.86 percent, or 2.42 million when compared to January 2014.

Meanwhile, the finance and insurance industries as a whole added a total of 22,400 jobs for January, “with the majority of job increases happening within the insurance carriers and related activities subsector,” the press release says.

The job report also revealed that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 257,000 in January, with job gains in retail trade, construction, health care, financial activities and manufacturing. The unemployment rate changed little in January and has shown no net change since October 2014. It is currently at 5.7 percent, according to InsuranceJobs.