Of the 71 thousand plus jobs that were cut in September, over 26 thousand of them came out of the housing industry. That means over a third of the jobs lost in the United States came from construction, mortgage lenders, and real estate firms.

While some see this as a painful transition the reality is that the real estate sector was bloated with to accommodate the speculative and bubble economy that built up in  the real estate sector. These cuts probably should have occurred earlier but all of the companies were holding out for a quick turn around. When it did not come, head count in the real estate industry was bound to drop.

And how is the economy reacting to this? Well, on a national basis, layoffs are down from 100,315 in September, 2006 to 71,739 in September, 2007. So the economy is taking  the slowdown in real estate with a nod but not a worry. Job creation is continuing at a high level and the real estate slowdown is not hurting the national job picture at all.

About 37 percent of September job cuts were connected to the housing industry as that sector continues to languish in a deep slump, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said Wednesday.
Housing-related layoffs totaled 26,465 in September, while overall layoffs for the month totaled 71,739, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The consulting firm considers mortgage lenders, construction companies and real estate firms the industries that make up housing-related sector. via Business Week

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