.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;}
As interest rate cuts continue to lower mortgage rates and prompt refinancings, at least one employment agency in Greater Des Moines is experiencing an uptick in listings for loan processing positions, while another is seeing a demand for more consumer-debt collectors.

Deanna Dunn, branch manager of Adecco in Des Moines, said openings the agency is handling for mortgage processing positions locally have increased “probably 75 percent compared with the past six months.”

However, most of those jobs are temporary, lasting six months on average, she said. The only permanent positions the agency is filling within mortgage processing are for contract positions, Dunn said.

Adecco has also seen a surge in temporary mortgage processing positions in other metropolitan markets, among them Minneapolis, Phoenix, Richmond, Va., and Seattle, according to a corporate spokeswoman at the agency’s New York headquarters. Most of these locations had 200 or more openings; she did not have a figure for Des Moines.

“Believe it or not, because of the holidays, it’s been challenging for us to fill these positions,” she said.

Nationally, the volume of weekly mortgage applications increased 48 percent in the week ending Dec. 19, according to the latest survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was at 1,245.4, up 48 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 841.4 one week earlier. The Refinance Index increased 62.6 percent to 6,758.6 from the previous week.

At Manpower Inc.’s Des Moines office, “we’ve had an uptick in collections positions, but not in mortgage processing,” said Nick Reddin, business development manager. Reddin said his office has not seen an increase in either temporary or permanent positions. “It’s kind of surprising, but I haven’t,” he said. “You would intuitively think that would increase when interest rates go down.”

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is using existing staff to manage the increase in calls during this period of low interest rates, a spokeswoman said. “Anticipating the drop in interest rates, Wells Fargo has taken the necessary steps to make sure adequate staffing levels are in place and ready to handle any influx of customer calls due to low interest rates,” said Debora Blume.