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Mortgage banking firms shed 7,200 jobs in November, one of the steepest monthly job losses of the year, according to figures released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Compared to the same month a year ago, job losses totaled a whopping 41,700, an indication of just how ugly the industry’s correction has been. (The mortgage employment tally trails the national numbers by a month.)

At the end of November, firms classified by the federal government as “real estate credit” had 250,200 full-timers on their payrolls. A year ago, when mortgage rates were relatively low — but rising — the reading was 291,900.

The figures do not include mortgage brokerage firms. This sector of the industry employed 127,400 full-timers in November, down 2,300 positions from October. The year-over-year employment loss among brokers was a comparatively modest 2,600 positions.

As the new year commences, lenders from coast to coast are battening down the spending hatches.