Nonbank mortgage bankers and brokers' collective payrolls expanded by nearly 2% on a consecutive-month basis and were up 9% from a year ago in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report.
The industry employed an estimated 323,300 in July, preliminary figures show. The BLS also revised
While employment typically ebbs as home buying slows in the fall, several nonbanks have ambitious hiring plans in the works that call for them to add thousands of workers by year-end.
Examples include a plan announced this week by
Overall U.S. jobs — which are reported with less of a lag than mortgage industry estimates — were up by 1.4 million in August, when the unemployment rate fell to 8.4%. When adjusted for
In comparison, total employment was up 1.8 million in July, when there was a 10.2% unemployment rate, or 11.2% on an adjusted basis.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the unemployment rate was closer to 4%. Unemployment rates were last this high during the Great Recession, when they rose to 10%.
Housing has been insulated from the pandemic's broader effect on the economy by low rates and the fact that the types of industries suffering the most primarily employ renters rather than homeowners.
But eventually, if higher levels of unemployment in the broader market are sustained it could dampen housing demand and consumers' ability to qualify for loans, according to Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American Financial Corp.
"Housing has remained immune due to demographic demand and the Fed policy keeping rates low, but it cannot remain immune to the impact of homeowners having less household income," Kushi said in an email.
