Lenders Cut 1,000 From Payrolls

The mortgage industry shed 1,000 full-time workers in December after a 2,800 increase in November, according to new government figures. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector fell to 253,400 in December from 255,400 the previous month. Employment in residential finance industry last year averaged 262,900 positions, compared to 308,300 in 2008. Meanwhile, Friday's job report shows the nation's unemployment rate fell three tenths of a percent to 9.7% in January as 20,000 workers were laid off. The bureau revised the December number from a loss of 85,000 full time jobs to a loss of 150,000. [There is one-month lag in BLS reporting of mortgage industry employment data.] The November jobs number was revised upward from a loss of 4,000 jobs to a gain of 64,000. That's the good news. The bad news is that companies have slashed 8.4 millions workers from their payrolls since the recession started in December 2007 — up 1 million from previous estimates. This helps to explain the strain on servicers as well as the high level of defaults and foreclosures. Despite the discouraging numbers, many economists expect to see a pickup in hiring very soon.