Estimated total monthly staffing in the mortgage industry jumped by more than 6,000 jobs. Meanwhile, employment across all sectors expanded, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in more than seven years.
During June, U.S. nonfarm employment expanded by 223,000, not quite as good as the downwardly revised 254,000 jobs added a month earlier.
Job creation was weaker compared to a year earlier, when a downwardly revised 286,000 jobs were added.
The labor force data was reported Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Last month’s unemployment rate fell to 5.3
— the lowest rate since it was 5.0 percent in April 2008.
In May 2015, the rate was 5.5 percent, while it stood at 6.1 percent in June 2014.
In
just the home lending sector, which is reported on a one-month lag, the BLS said there were a total of 289,900 non-bank jobs as of May.
Mortgage employment rose from 286,600 the prior month. April’s
figure was revised up from 286,300 originally reported.
One year prior, the mortgage total was
274,500. The May 2014 total was revised down from 278,900 in the original BLS report.
The latest total included
215,000 employees classified as “real estate credit.” This category rose from 212,100 in April and 203,900 in May 2014.
In addition, there were 74,900 “mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers,” more than 74,500 a month earlier and 70,600 a year earlier.
Based on origination market share data and the BLS numbers, Mortgage Daily estimates that total mortgage employment — including bank and non-bank jobs — was 555,100 in May, jumping from 548,700 the previous month.
But total overall staffing in real estate finance has receded from 580,500 in the same month last year.
The
May 2015 total included an estimated 214,800 mortgage jobs at banks, 50,400 home lending positions at credit unions and 289,900 non-bank mortgage jobs.
