For the second month in a row, more Americans have applied for life insurance than they did during the same period last year.

According to the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) Life Index, which measures application activity for individually underwritten life insurance in the United States, the demand for individually underwritten life insurance in August rose 0.6% across all age groups, year over year. In July, this number was up by 0.7%.

After the posting losses during the five prior quarters, the MIB says that this second consecutive month of growth "may be cause for cautious optimism". Application activity in August was 1.4% higher than July, which the MIB says is typical as the fall selling season approaches.

The age 60 and over demographic continued to lead the way in August, with 3.7% more life insurance applications made year over year. The 45 to 59 age group posted modest gains, up 0.4% year over year. As for those aged 44 and under, applications in that category remain down, off 0.3% year over year.