Monthly employment in the mortgage business expanded and has grown by 9 percent over the past year. The job market for all U.S. industries also improved.
Preliminary government data indicate that 295,800 people were employed in the mortgage industry during June.
Mortgage staffing improved from a month earlier, with revised data indicating that 293,100 employees worked in real estate finance during May.
Historical data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which provides the numbers, indicates that the total was 272,400 in the same month last year.
Guaranteed Rate Inc., where 230 positions were added in the fourth quarter; PrimeLending, which reported a 161 gain in staffing during the first quarter; and Freedom Mortgage Corp., which said it increased headcount by 186 people from the end of last year through June.
Also impacting June’s numbers were Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., where headcount increased by 85 employees during the second quarter; and Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc., where 49 jobs were added during the three months ended June 30.
The bureau, a division of the Department of Labor, reported that the number of employees classified as “real estate credit” accounted for the 216,000 of the latest numbers, up from 214,000 a month earlier and 202,300 a year earlier.
The number of “mortgage and non-mortgage loan brokers” rose to 79,800 from 79,100 in May and 70,100 in June 2012.
The bureau reported that nonfarm payroll employment across all U.S. industries increased by 162,000 in July, not as robust as the 195,000 jobs added in June.
Still, the gain was far from dismal and is unlikely to have a great impact on mortgage rates.
The rate of U.S. unemployment, meanwhile, fell to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent — a development that will place upward pressure on rates.
