The insurance industry added 3,900 in November, according to preliminary numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Economic Situation Report, released on Friday, December 7. November’s employment growth marks a slight increase over the 3,200 jobs gained in October.

The insurance industry now employs 2,687,800 persons, with an unemployment rate of 1.2 percent – the lowest rate all year.

In October, average hourly wages dropped by 1.7 percent, from $35.70 to $35.08. Average weekly hours also dropped slightly from 38.6 to 38 hours/week.

Losses evened out any growth in the insurance industry’s parent sector, finance and insurance, which added 3,800 jobs. Within the sector, credit intermediation and related activities lost 6,300 jobs while securities, commodity contracts, investments, and funds and trusts added 6,300 jobs.

Across all industries, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent for the third month in a row, while the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 6.0 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.4 percentage point and 641,000, respectively. Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 155,000 with job
gains in health care, manufacturing, and transportation and warehousing.