Life Activity Continues to Move in a Strange Way

By Allison Bell

News March 08, 2019 at 02:19 PM

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U.S. life insurance application activity did something shocking in February: It increased — for the second month in a row.

Activity was 2.1% higher in January than in January 2018, according to activity data from MIB Group Inc. That's the first overall, year-over-year increased in activity since July 2018.

In February, MIB says, activity increased a second time: Activity was 0.4% higher last month than in February 2018.

(Related: Life Activity Climbs — for Two Age Groups)

In January, MIB found that activity growth was strong for consumers ages 60 and older, and moderate for consumers ages 45 through 59. The activity level for consumers ages 44 and younger shrank.

That trend continued in February.

Here's how the year-over-year activity picture looked in February for the three major age groups MIB tracks:

Ages 0-44: -4.4%
Ages 45-59: +1.9%.
Ages 60 and older: +12.5%.

Although the numbers for applicants ages 44 and younger look bleak, they're somewhat stronger than in late 2018.

Activity for people in that age group fell 9.4% in November 2018, and 7.4% in December.

MIB is a nonprofit organization. MIB helps life insurers share information used to verify about 90% of the applications for life insurance and other medically underwritten products submitted in the United States, according to MIB data.