Mortgage companies pared their payrolls by just 300 full-time employees in September, compared to 3,400 cuts the prior month, according to new government figures released Friday morning.
It appears that falling interest rates, which have sparked a mini boom in refinancings, have helped to some degree, although larger lenders, such as Bank of America, continue to slash jobs and departments.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector fell to 234,500 in September from 234,800 in August.
Overall, the industry's workforce has declined by 10% since September 2010.
While employment in mortgage industry held fairly steady, Friday's employment report shows that hiring was stronger elsewhere.
The Labor Department said businesses added 80,000 jobs in October. But it was the fewest in four months and below September's revised total of 158,000. The government revised August and September's data to show 102,000 more jobs added. (The mortgage employment figures lag one month behind the national numbers.)
The nation's unemployment rate edged down to 9% from 9.1% in September.
However, the housing sector has not contributed to the pick up in jobs. "Employment in both residential and commercial construction has shown little net change in 2011," a new Census Bureau report says.
