Graph: In Thousands, Mortgage Employment since Jan. 2002

Mortgage employment statistics began to reflect the growing number of closings and scale-backs in the subprime industry.




The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 489,200 full-time mortgage positions in the month of January.

Employment reporting at the Bureau generally lags one month for the mortgage industry.

Employment levels were reported at 495,100 in December.

In January 2006, there were 498,100 mortgage jobs reported.
The mortgage industry has lost 15,500 jobs since October began the steady decline.

The BLS breaks down mortgage employment into two categories.

Under "real estate credit," the BLS reported 349,100 jobs, compared to 352,000 in December 2005.

For the "mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers" sector, there were reportedly 140,100 positions, down from 146,100 one year earlier.

The national unemployment rate for February dropped to 4.5%, while the U.S. economy gained 97,000 non-farm payroll jobs.