It seems there can be no complete recovery of the housing market until the job market stabilizes. New data from Equifax, reported by Reuters news today, showed that the rate of mortgage delinquencies is climbing, and climbing fast.

According to the source, 7.58 percent of all U.S. mortgages were delinquent by 30 days or more in August, an increase from July’s 7.32 percent. This is the fourth straight month of rising delinquencies, and the current rate is up dramatically from a year earlier when it was 4.89 percent. Two years ago, in August 2007, the rate was only 3.44 percent.

Here’s a graph from the Mortgages Unzipped blog that shows the delinquency trend over the past few years. It is definitely on the quick rise.

Apparently there is a very high correlation between these recent figures and the rate of consumer bankruptcy filings. Bankruptcy filings rose by 32 percent in the past year according to Reuters.

Rising unemployment numbers are certainly to blame for both of these issues. And we haven’t seen the end of job losses so far. While unemployment rates have not been increasing as fast in the latest months, more jobs are still being cut than are being created. And as people continue to lose jobs, they will continue to be unable to meet their financial obligations.

What does this mean for the rest of the mortgage market? Home prices are likely to stay down across many regional markets until the delinquency rates (and consequently the foreclosure rates) calm down. But the good news is that mortgage interest rates remain near historic lows, so buying and refinancing are still very attractive for those who can qualify.