February 16, 2012, 9:25 AM

Employer-sponsored insurance continues its declining trend during the last few years, as fewer than half of Americans received their health insurance from an employer in 2011.

A Gallup survey released Tuesday showed that 44.6% of Americans received health insurance from an employer last year, down from 45.8% in 2010 and 49.2% in 2008, reported Politico.

That amounts to a 1.2% drop since 2010 and a nearly 5% decrease since 2008, according to the Washington Times.

Meanwhile, the number of uninsured Americans continues to increase, soaring to 17.1% this year, which Gallup said is the highest uninsured rate since 2008.