The number of people working in non-bank mortgage jobs climbed to the highest level since 2013. Among all industries, job growth continued.
U.S. employers added 215,000 nonfarm jobs for the month of July, according to monthly data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Job growth slowed from the previous month, when an upwardly revised 231,000 jobs were added, and the same month last year, when the workforce expanded by an upwardly revised 249,000.
The BLS, which is part of the Department of Labor, reported a 5.3 percent unemployment rate for last month, the same as in June but down from 6.2 percent in July 2014.
In just the real estate finance sector, which is reported on a one-month lag, there were 293,500 people working in non-bank mortgage jobs as of June 2015, BLS data indicate.
Mortgage headcount increased from a month earlier, when the total was 290,100. The May numbers were revised up from 289,900 originally reported.
Staffing in home lending also expanded from 277,500 in June 2014. The year-earlier number was
revised down from the 282,200 mortgage jobs first reported by the BLS.
Included in the non-bank mortgage total for June 2015 were
217,300 “real estate credit” positions, rising from 215,100 a month earlier and 206,700 a year earlier.
“Real estate credit” jobs were last this high in October 2013, when the number was 219,500.
Also included in the June 2015 non-bank total were
76,200 “mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers” — the most since July 2013’s 77,800.
Broker count was 75,000 in May 2015 and 70,800 in June 2014.
Based on a Mortgage Daily analysis of BLS data and origination market share data, estimated mortgage industry employment — including jobs at banks, credit unions and non-bank mortgage firms — was 561,900 as of June 2015.
Total mortgage industry headcount grew from an estimated 555,400 the previous month. But the sum was down from an estimated 586,800 in the year-prior month.
The most-recent monthly total included
an estimated 217,500 mortgage jobs at banks, 51,000 positions at credit unions and 293,500 people in non-bank mortgage jobs.
