A slight increase in employment at non-bank mortgage lenders wasn’t enough to offset a monthly decline at mortgage brokers. But gains were made among all U.S. industries.
Government data released on Friday indicate that total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment expanded by 217,000 jobs during May.
While the gain wasn’t as strong as the 288,000 jobs added in April, it was more robust than in May 2013, when employment was up by 175,000.
The news had the price of the 10-year Treasury note up 8/32 in early trading. Treasury yields move lower when prices are up.
However, the stock market was higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average — which had jumped more than 70 points initially — up more than 50 points.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported the jobs data, noted the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent last month, the same as in April but an improvement over the 7.6 percent as of May 2013.
In just the mortgage industry, which is reported on a one-month lag, 279,000 people were employed as of April.
The total, which excludes mortgage jobs at banks, was down from 279,300 in March. The month-earlier total was revised up from 279,000 originally reported.
The decline was more significant compared to April 2013, when the industry employed 304,200 people. The BLS originally reported the year-earlier number at 292,800.
Employees classified as “real estate credit” accounted for 209,000 of April’s mortgage total, rising from 208,200 one month earlier. But this metric was much lower than the same month during 2013, when the category had 226,800 people.
The rest of the mortgage sector was made up of 70,000 “mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers,” fewer than the 71,100 employees in March and 77,400 in April 2013.
