Mortgage companies added 1,100 full-time employees to their payrolls in October as more residential brokers returned to the field.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector rose to 247,700 in October from 246,600 in September.
The October jobs figures show the number of active mortgage brokers increased by 900 from September to 59,500 in October.
The increase is likely due to a surge in refinancings that started early in the fall.
In recent weeks mortgage rates began to increase, but were falling again on Friday when the new national jobs report showed the unemployment rate rising to 9.8%. The U.S. economy generated only 39,000 new jobs in November. (The mortgage job figures trail the national numbers by one month.)
Excluding layoffs at state and local governments, the private-sector hired 50,000 new employees in November, down from 172,000 in the previous month. Economists were expecting Friday's job report to post a 160,000 gain in private sector positions.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points during the month from a rate of 9.6% in October.
Mortgage Employment
