Benefitnews.com Adviser.(life insurance applications decrease)(employers worry about workplace injuries North American life insurance applications dropped nearly 3% from March 2002 to 2003, making it the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year decline, according to the MIB Group. The MIB Life Index, which tracks life insurance activity for both the United States and Canada, notes that U.S. applications were off by 3.8% from the same time the previous year, while Canadian activity actually was up 5.6%. In fact, Canada has seen an increase in life insurance applications during eight of the last 12 months. However, the U.S., with its much larger life insurance base, brought down the percentage of life insurance activity across the continent. Continental results from the first quarter of this year trailed those at the same time last year by 5.5%; in the United States, 6.2%. However, MIB researchers point to the 60-plus age group as showing the strongest life insurance activity, with a 2.3% increase in North America and a 1.9% jump in the U.S. during the first quarter this year compared to the same time last year. On the bright side, "March applications in North America were up 9.1% when compared with February levels," says Stacy J. Gill, vice president and chief knowledge officer for the MIB Group's e-Services Corp. "While still slightly below historic levels, this activity may suggest the extended period of weak underwriting activity and moribund growth could be behind us." employers worry about workplace injuries)(SunTrust Banks and Sky Financial Group expand into insurance and benefits business)