InsuranceJobs.com, the leading insurance jobs website for insurance professionals, provides an overview of the Employment Cost Index report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 31, 2013.

The report contains data from March 2013 – June 2013.  Over this three month period the compensation costs for civilian workers increased .5 percent.  Civilian insurance professionals saw an even larger spike in the employment cost index for total compensation from .3 percent to 1.4 percent.  Civilian insurance professionals’ wages and salaries saw similar growth, increasing from .2 percent to 1.6 percent from March to June. For private industry insurance professionals there was an increase from 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent for employer costs for labor. There was also an increase from 1.2 percent to 2.5 percent in wages and salaries for private industry insurance professionals.

The employment cost index measures the price of labor in the United States overall and by industry as discussed above.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ quarterly reports measure change over time in labor costs and provide quarterly data measuring the level of average costs per hour worked.  Essentially the index measures the employer costs for employee benefits.  The cost of labor is undeniably on the rise for the insurance industry, but there has been no negative effect on the employment rate as of yet.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate for insurance professionals has steadily declined since April 2013.