September 12, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Insurance prices: one up, one down

From December 1999 to December 2000, the Producer Price Index for property and casualty insurance rose, while the index for life insurance carriers fell.

[Chart data—TXT]

Prices in the property and casualty insurance industry increased 1.1 percent between December 1999 and December 2000, the same rate as in the prior year. Increasing claims cost for homeowners insurance was a main factor in propelling the overall index for property and casualty insurance.

The price index for the life insurance carriers industry declined 0.6 percent between December 1999 and December 2000, after falling 0.3 percent a year earlier. The 2000 decline is evidence of continued competition due to the ability of other financial services companies to offer similar services.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Learn more in "Producer prices in 2000: energy goods continue to climb," by William F. Snyders, Monthly Labor Review, July 2001.