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Report: Mortgage Industry Nets Nearly 3K Jobs Losses in Q2

As declining refinance volumes hurt the market for ""loan officers"":http://dsnews.comarticles/reports-well-fargo-to-cut-over-2000-production-jobs-2013-08-26, decreasing delinquencies are also prompting the need to cut back on mortgage jobs.

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According to _Mortgage Daily's_ ""Mortgage Employment Index"":http://www.mortgagedaily.com/MortgageEmploymentIndex082613.asp, the number of mortgage layoffs surpassed the number of newly added jobs by nearly 3,000 in the second quarter.

From April to June of this year, the mortgage industry experienced 9,950 job losses, while newly filled positions totaled 6,969, leading to a net 2,981 layoffs. The near 10,000 job cuts in the second quarter represents the biggest total since the first quarter of 2009.

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The second quarter statistics are a significant letdown when compared to the first quarter of this year, when mortgage companies added a net 5,129 jobs, with layoffs at just 2,930, _Mortgage Daily_ reported.

With a net 1,509 mortgage layoffs, California experienced the most drastic decline, according to the index. New York followed after netting 1,280 job losses, with South Carolina (-515 jobs), New Jersey (-435 jobs), and Texas (-354 jobs) also in the top five.

Florida, a state known for its high foreclosure rate, came out with the highest number of new jobs, with a net 574 new hires.

Arizona had the second highest number of net jobs added, at 300, followed by Missouri (+242 jobs), Indiana (+162 jobs), and Illinois (+159 jobs).

When comparing servicers, _Mortgage Daily_ reported Bank of America suffered the highest number of job cuts in the second quarter, at 5,000. JPMorgan Chase ranked second, with a net 1,826 layoffs.

On the other hand, the index revealed Nationstar Mortgage led with the most hires, netting 2,300 jobs in the first quarter and zero layoffs, while Walter Investment Management Corp. also saw no layoffs, but added 1,400 new jobs.

Despite the layoffs, one executive at Fay Servicing advised there are still plenty of job opportunities with specialty servicers in a recent ""article"":http://dsnews.comarticles/out-of-work-loan-officers-can-find-new-opportunities-in-industry-2013-08-27.