Summary: Around 4,700 jobs were added to the legal sector in September.
According to American Lawyer, the legal sector gained roughly 4,700 jobs in September, according to the latest report from the United States Department of Labor.
Last month, roughly 1.125 million legal services jobs were reported, up from 1.120 million in August. Accounting Today notes that 142,000 total jobs were added in September.
Compared to last year, legal services had 7,300 more payroll jobs in September. All numbers are seasonally adjusted and are reported on a preliminary basis.
August was reported to be a tough month for legal jobs.
Professional and business services, which include legal services, gained jobs last month, which added around 31,000 payroll positions. So far, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics has said that the business and professional services sector gained roughly 45,000 jobs per month, compared with around 59,000 per month in 2014.
The report was lower than expected by some economists. In its entirety, job growth has been slower this year. In 2015, the economy has created an estimated 198,000 nonfarm payroll jobs each month, compared with 260,000 last year. In the last three months, growth has slowed to around 167,000 per month.
The most jobs were created in health care and information services.
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The unemployment rate has remained steady, and was reported at 5.1 percent in September. Estimates of jobs added in July and August were actually revised downward. July nonfarm payroll gains were revised to 223,000, down from 245,000. August job gains were revised to 136,000, down from 173,000. Therefore, there were 59,000 fewer jobs added in July and August than originally reported.
However, legal services lost fewer jobs in August than originally reported. Around 900 jobs were lost in August, which was less than half of the original 2,000 job figure reported.
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Law firms have continued to let go of employees in some areas. An undetermined number of associates and staff were let go from Hughes Hubbard & Reed in Kansas City, Missouri. In Tampa, a small firm let go of 154 workers.
Source: American Lawyer
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