As was the case for all industries, monthly employment expanded in the mortgage sector. The positive news hurt interest rates. Still, unemployment inched higher, and wage growth stalled.
U.S. companies increased nonfarm
payroll employment by a robust 222,000 jobs during June, according to data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Job growth increased compared to the previous month, when an upwardly revised 152,000 employees were added. But the expansion came up well short of the same month last year during the Obama administration when nonfarm employment surged by an
upwardly revised 297,000.
The positive report
hurt the bond market, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling by 6/32 in early trading.
National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions Chief Economist Curt Long commented in a written statement that upward revisions to the prior months puts average monthly job growth at 180,000 this year — about the same pace as in 2016.
“But wage growth has stalled, which will add to fears that low inflation may not improve any time soon,” Long said.
Despite the strong jobs gain, unemployment increased to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent in May. But the unemployment rate has tumbled from 4.9 percent in June 2016.
The labor participation rate ticked up to 62.8 percent last month from 62.7 percent the prior month and a year prior.
Within just the mortgage industry, which the BLS reports on a one-month lag, non-bank jobs totaled
336,700 in May. Mortgage staffing grew from a downwardly revised 333,900 a month earlier and an upwardly revised 310,100 a year earlier.
The most-recent mortgage headcount consisted of 240,600 “real estate credit” jobs and 96,100 people classified as “mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers.”
Based on an analysis of the BLS data and origination market share, Mortgage Daily estimates that total staffing in real estate finance — including jobs at financial institutions — came to 731,200 in May 2017.
The estimated total was comprised of 315,600 mortgage jobs at banks, 78,900 positions at credit unions and the 336,700 non-bank employees reported by the BLS.
