The number of individually underwritten life insurance applications filed rose 1.6% in October, compared to the same period last year, according to the monthly MIB Life Index.

Researchers said the increase was better than reported, given that this past October had fewer business days than the same month in 2010.

For the year, application activity is off 0.4%.

“At a time when the U.S. economy is struggling to define direction, the pipeline for new life

insurance business appears to be holding its own,” said Lee Oliphant, MIB’s CEO, in a statement.

The increase was for all ages combined, but was fueled mostly by those age 60 and above, who marked a 10.9% increase in October over the same month last year, according to the index.

Other age groups didnt do as well. Applications for people ages 0-44 were off 1.1% and for ages 45-59 were up 2.0%.

For the first 10 months, ages 0-44 are off 2.9%, ages 45-59 are flat at 0.3%, and ages 60+ are up 8.4%.

Application activity ages 45-59 continues to hold true to levels seen in 2009 after experiencing consecutive annual losses greater than 2% in the 2004-2008 timeframe, according to researchers.

 

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