NYC real estate pounded with layoffs

NYC real estate pounded with layoffs December 02, 2009 02:00PM The New York City real estate industry shed 600 broker-related positions jobs in October, bringing the 2009 tally thus far to 5,700, or 4.7 percent of that sector's labor force, according to a new employment report from Eastern Consolidated. Nationwide, brokerage firms cut 2,200 employees during the month, for a current total of 105,500 job losses, or 5.1 percent since December 2008. The construction industry, however, is weathering a more serious fallout. A whopping 16,300 New York City construction jobs -- 12.3 percent -- were lost during the month, though that was only a fraction of the nearly 1.6 million construction employees terminated across the country, who comprised 20.7 percent of the industry. TRD