Mortgage Companies Cut 6K Full-Timers

Mortgage companies cut 6,000 full-time employees from their payrolls in August -- the biggest monthly drop since 15,000 industry workers lost their jobs in September 2007. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector fell from 355,100 in July to 349,100 in August. Since January, the employment reports showed a gradual decline in mortgage jobs totaling less than 10,000 layoffs until the drop in August. Since the subprime meltdown spooked the financial markets in August 2007, the mortgage industry has shed 58,900 jobs. Friday's jobs reports indicates that 159,000 U.S. workers lost their jobs in September following the loss of 73,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate held steady a 6.1%. (There is a one-month lag between the release in national employment data and the release of mortgage industry data.)