Boca Raton, FL – NCCI recently released a new edition of its quarterly newsletter examining the current state of the economy and the implications for workers’ compensation insurance. This edition also looks at the components of payroll growth for NCCI industry groups.
Among the findings:
Employment Growth
Private employment grew by 2.4% in 2015, the strongest increase since the recession. After continuing at a strong pace during the first quarter of this year, growth has slowed in the second quarter.
Wage Growth
Preliminary data indicate that average weekly wages increased by 3.1% during 2015, the same as during 2014.
Medical Inflation
Medical inflation accelerated slightly in 2015 to 2.6%. However, medical severity declined during 2015, indicating a decrease in medical service utilization.
Interest Rates
Low interest rates continue to constrain investment income in the property/casualty industry.
Drilling Down
In this edition of the Quarterly Economics Briefing, NCCI also looked at the components of payroll growth for NCCI industry groups. The review of payroll and its components of employment and average weekly wages indicate the following key takeaways.
- Payroll growth has been driven by increases in both employment and average weekly wages.
- For the private sector, wage growth has slowed in the more recent years while employment growth has remained fairly steady throughout the recovery.
- In 2015, employment growth is the dominant driver of the change in payroll for Contracting while average wage growth is the primary driver for the private sector and the four other industry groups (Manufacturing, Office and Clerical, Goods and Services, and Miscellaneous).
- Payroll increased for most states and industry groups last year, but some states experienced declines, particularly in Manufacturing, Contracting, and Miscellaneous.
More information on average wage growth and changes in average hourly earnings and average weekly hours can be found by viewing the entire report.
Click here: NCCI Quarterly Economics Briefing Q2 2016 (PDF)
Source: NCCI