Mortgage Industry Continues to Hire, Loan Brokers Lead

Mortgage banking firms continued hiring in July after adding 7,500 full-time employees in June, according to government figures released Friday.   

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that mortgage companies added 1,300 workers to their payrolls during the month.  Mortgage brokerage firms were responsible for 1,000 of those new hires. (The mortgage job numbers lag the national figures by one month.)

During the first seven months of this year, mortgage brokerage firms have added 9,800 employees to their payrolls. In particular, processing and underwriting jobs have been hot, according to interviews conducted by National Mortgage News.

Employment in the mortgage banking and brokerage sector rose to 277,600 full-time positions in July from 276,300 in June.

Overall, employment in the mortgage industry is up 5% since July 2011.  

Meanwhile, Friday’s job’s report shows the U.S. economy created 96,000 new positions in August, compared 141,000 in July.  BLS originally reported there were 163,000 new hires in July.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1% in August from 8.3% in July.