Legal sector loses 4,600 jobs in September
The legal sector lost 4,600 jobs in September after a promising month in August.
Revised numbers by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the legal sector added 3,500 jobs in August, a gain eclipsed by the 4,600 jobs lost in September, the Am Law Daily reports. The decline is the largest one month-drop for the legal sector in nearly five years, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog says.
The legal sector had about 1.13 million jobs in September, a decline of about 3,000 jobs from a year ago.
Some of the job losses may be the result of summer associates leaving law firms, according to James Leipold, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement, who spoke with the Am Law Daily. He also noted that legal secretarial jobs are being cut.
In any event, Leipold told the Am Law Daily, it’s difficult to discern any kind of trend in one month’s numbers. “The recruitment this year, so far, seems to be about the same as last year but a bit busier,” Leipold says. “Definitely, it is not worse and there is no lawyer layoff news in the papers.”
