Be Grateful You're Not in the Mortgage Industry

If you think the business you work in has been hard hit and difficult to predict, just be glad you're not in the mortgage industry. While most sectors seemed to be recovering in 2010, there was a drop in hirings from 2009 in the mortgage industry. In fact, mortgage jobs went from a net gain in 2009 to a net loss last year, according to the Fourth-Quarter 2010 Mortgage Employment Index from MortgageDaily.com.

At least last year's losses were nowhere near those of 2007 -- when layoffs outpaced hirings by nearly 90,000 jobs. In 2010, layoffs in real estate finance outnumbered hirings by 3,100 jobs. In 2009, hirings exceeded layoffs by more than 8,000.