Employers: Payrolls pressure net

A weak job market fewer folks are working, and many of them are making less continued to pressure Reno's Employers Holdings Inc. during the first quarter.

The publicly held workers compensation carrier said last week that payrolls at its customers during the first quarter were 17 percent lower than a year earlier and fell 7 percent during the first three months of this year alone.

The company posted profits of $16.1 million during the quarter compared with $20.9 million a year earlier.

"It appears to us that declines in national employment and payroll may have leveled off, but we do not know when new business formations will increase or how soon our small business customers will add jobs and increase payrolls," said Douglas Dirks, Employers' president and chief executive officer.

Martin Welch, who oversees the company's operations, said rising premium rates in California the state accounts for half of Employers business helped offset some of the declines.

But he said that Employers dropped some customers with poor workers compensation histories in the Midwest and lost others in the region when it raised their rates.

Price competition remains stiff, Welch said. He said some competitors offer what he called "less-than-prudent pricing," but Employers is willing to lose the business rather than follow suit.

In the meantime, Dirks said the company is focused on cost control. Its underwriting and operating expenses in the first quarter were down 11.6 percent from their levels of a year ago.