Mortgage companies added 700 full-time employees to their payrolls in February after cutting 3,000 positions in January, according to a newly released government report.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning that employment in the mortgage banking and brokerage sector rose to 286,800 in February from 286,100 in January.
The January head count was revised downward by 1,000 jobs.
Strong hiring during 2012 and concerns about rising interest rates may explain the January cutback. But Treasury rates fell Thursday and Friday’s disappointing
BLS reported that the U.S. economy created just 88,000 new jobs in March, compared to 268,000 in February. The February figure was revised upward by 32,000.
Construction hiring also disappointed. The March jobs report shows that builders hired 18,000
(There is a one-month lag in reporting mortgage employment data.)
