In yet another sign that the economy is gradually improving, the mortgage industry saw a net gain of 5,129 jobs in the first quarter of 2013 – the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2009, when 8,253 jobs were added – according to the Mortgage Employment Index from Mortgage Daily.
The industry hired about 8,059 workers in the first quarter of 2013, but 2,930 were laid off, for a net of 5,129, Mortgage Daily reports.
That's a significant increase from the net gain of 2,571 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Many of the new hires went to Quicken Loans, giving Michigan the biggest increase of any state, Mortgage Daily reports. Conversely, North Carolina and South Carolina saw the most mortgage job losses in 1Q 2013, with a net loss of 612 jobs.
Quicken Loans hired the most, adding about 2,000 jobs in the first quarter. Wells Fargo and Nationstar followed with about 1,475 and 700 jobs added, respectively, in the first quarter. Chase, Bank of America and HSBC turned in the biggest job losses, with 821, 651 and 400 fewer mortgage employees on the books, respectively, for the first quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.