The exodus out of real estate finance continued, while data previously reported for a year ago was adjusted up by nearly 14,000 jobs. A stronger-than-expected report for all types of jobs had the 10-year Treasury yield deteriorating.
The government reported Friday that 234,400 people were employed in the mortgage industry as of August.
A month earlier, 237,200 people worked for mortgage lenders, servicers and brokers. The July figure was revised down from 237,300 originally reported.
The metric also deteriorated from August 2010, when headcount in the industry was 259,400. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reports U.S. employment data, beefed up the year-earlier figures — which were originally reported at just 245,500.
The latest monthly count included 187,000 people employed in “real estate credit,” slipping from 188,300 in July. Hurting this category were Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., both of which have reported thousands of mortgage layoffs so far this year.
“Mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers” accounted for 47,400 of August’s total, off from 48,900, according to the bureau, a division of the Department of Labor.
Across all U.S. industries, nonfarm payrolls increased by 103,000 jobs during September — better than expected and pushing the price of the 10-year Treasury down 27/32 while driving the yield up to 2.08 percent.
U.S. unemployment, meanwhile, was 9.1 percent, the same as in August.
