Mortgage Layoffs Outpace Hirings According to MortgageDaily.com Q3 Report

(please note correction to fourth paragraph 10:02 a.m. Nov. 9)

Mortgage Layoffs Outpace Hirings According to MortgageDaily.com Q3 Report

DALLAS — (Nov. 9, 2009) /PRNewswire/ Growth in mortgage servicing jobs was not enough to keep headcount in the mortgage sector from falling, according to the MortgageDaily.com Third Quarter Mortgage Employment Analysis. But the rate of contraction has slowed considerably from the ugly pace set two years ago.

Mortgage employers eliminated 710 more positions during the third quarter than they added, based on the report, which reflects employment activity covered by MortgageDaily.com. The net loss reversed an 8,253 net gain in the second quarter but was better than the 10,233 net loss during the third-quarter 2008.

Despite the latest decline, mortgage job losses have slowed from the torrid pace set in 2007 — when lenders shed 87,000 more jobs than they added.

Third-quarter mortgage layoffs were 4,691, rising from the second quarter’s 3,229. Layoffs were most impacted by the closing of mortgage operations. (Correction: this paragraph should have read: Third-quarter mortgage layoffs were 5,401, rising from the second quarter’s 3,229. Layoffs were most impacted by the closing of mortgage operations.)

Hirings totaled 4,691, tumbling from 11,482 in the second quarter. Third-quarter hirings were fueled by growth in mortgage servicing staffs as well as growth at default service providers.

Impacted by layoffs at bankrupt Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., Florida saw a bigger third-quarter net loss in real estate finance jobs than any other state.

Loss-mitigation hirings by CitiMortgage Inc. helped give Missouri the biggest net gain.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that mortgage employment declined to 259,300 in September from 265,500 in June.