It marked the second month of job loss for the legal industry: Last December, the number employed in the sector stood at 1,124,200, before falling to 1,123,100 in January. In February, the number was 1,121,600. The category is broad and includes paralegals, law firm office workers and others employed by the industry.
The decline came amid an overall brightening of the overall employment situation in the US, with non-farm payroll positions for the month increasing by 242,000, and unemployment holding steady at 4.9 percent.
The bureau’s data on legal jobs did show growth throughout 2015, starting the year with 1,115,200 jobs and closing at 1,124,200 jobs. Still, the data also shows that eight years away from the recession, the legal sector still hasn’t recovered. In February 2007, there were 1,177,400 people employed in the legal industry, or 55,800 more jobs than February 2016. Furthermore, legal services employment has essentially flat-lined over the last couple of years as the rest of the economy rebounds, with the number employed in the industry hovering around the 1.12 million mark. Sources: Bloomberg BNA; The American Lawyer
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