Mortgage companies cut 5,300 full-time employees from their payrolls in April, marking the fourth consecutive month in which industry employment fell, according to government figures released Friday morning.
Overall, employment in the sector is off 8% from a year ago, but loan brokers are suffering the most with their ranks falling to 51,900 nationwide, a 14% decline over the past 12 months.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector fell to 239,400 in April from 244,700 in March.
Meanwhile, the national jobs report released Friday morning showed that private sector companies hired only 83,000 employees in May, compared to 232,000 in April.
The overall increase in nonfarm payrolls was 54,000 due to declines in local government employment and weakness in other sectors. Construction employment was "essentially unchanged" from April to May, the Labor Department said. (There is one-month lag in BLS reporting of employment data in the mortgage industry.)
The disappointing jobs report could put another damper on the housing market which is already facing lagging home sales and falling house prices.
“Today’s job data turned out to be even worse than feared,” said Fannie Mae economist Doug Duncan. “This report confirms other recent data from the housing and manufacturing sectors that the recovery is stalling. As a result, there is less fundamental support to drive a healthy rebound for housing. The risks are increasing that home prices will decline further, eroding consumer confidence and household wealth. This has broad negative implications for the health of the financial sector and the overall economy."
Mortgage Employment
