BLS Reports Spike in Insurance Carrier Hiring, Reflected in Granted.com Data
Pasadena, CA (PRWEB) July 17, 2013 -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported growth in the financial sector last month, especially among insurance carriers. The financial services sector added 17,000 new jobs in June, with the insurance industry accounting for 6,000 of those jobs. As provisions of Obamacare continue to roll out, insurance companies have expanded and begun aggressively hiring on job sites like Granted.com.
U.S. employers added 195,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics job report. The labor market continued its upward trajectory in July, helped along by growth in the hospitality, professional and business services, retail, financial, and health industries. Despite significant hiring in July, it was not enough to bring down the unemployment rate, which remained at 7.6 percent.
Financial services continued to trend upward, following the recovery on Wall Street. According to the employment report for June, the biggest areas of growth were in credit intermediation, which added 6,000 jobs, as well as “insurance carriers and related activities,” which added another 6,000 jobs. Insurance companies have been helped along by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
A recent provision requiring employers with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance was delayed by the administration in order to give businesses more time to hash out logistical issues. Under the law, businesses who do not meet the requirement could be penalized. Mid-sized and large businesses nationwide breathed a collective sigh of relief at the news that they would have an additional year to meet the employer mandate provision.
Nevertheless, both the employer and individual mandates of the provision have pushed up activity in the insurance sector, to the extent that employer hiring peaked last month. This was reflected in hiring trends on the job site Granted.com. At the time of this release, an astounding 380,500 jobs were listed on the site in the insurance sector. A large number were accounting-related (nearly 53,000) and the financial services sector (nearly 43,000). The openings were at both mid-sized and large insurance agencies and ran the gamut from account management, insurance sales, and administrative employment. There was also an increase in positions for insurance defense attorneys, as carriers hired legal professionals to argue disputed claims in court.
With the implementation of Obamacare to continue until 2020, many players in the health, insurance, financial, and legal sector stand to benefit.
About Granted
Granted.com is a job search site based in Pasadena, CA. It is a part of the Employment Research Institute and owned by A. Harrison Barnes.
Andrew Ostler, Granted.com, http://www.granted.com/, 626-243-1800, [email protected]
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