GMAC LLC, the General Motors Corp financing affiliate that received a government bailout, said its mortgage unit is hiring 1,000 people

to handle a surge in refinancings and jumbo loans.

Earlier this year, GMAC said there was substantial doubt about the ability of the mortgage unit, Residential Capital LLC, to survive, after roughly $10 billion of losses over nine quarters as the number of bad loans and foreclosures soared.

But GMAC said that since it got a $6 billion federal bailout in December and became a bank holding company, it has benefited from a pickup in deposits and low mortgage rates.

The average rate on a 30-year home loan this week is 4.82 percent, according to Freddie Mac. That is just above the 4.78 percent rate two weeks ago, the lowest since the mortgage company started tracking it in 1971.

GMAC had in September set plans to cut 5,000 ResCap jobs, or 57 percent, and close all 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices.

The company also said ResCap is making more jumbo loans, which are usually in amounts above $417,000, although borrowers are now putting 20 percent and more down.

Before the nation's housing slump, it was common for lenders to require little or no money down, resulting in many borrowers owing more than their homes were worth as housing prices fell.

Hirings by GMAC were reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

The government bailout required GM and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP CBS.UL to reduce their respective 49 percent and 51 percent stakes in GMAC.

GMAC is based in Detroit, and ResCap in Minneapolis.