Last week’s jobs report was good news for the nation—and great news for lawyers.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal services sector added 1,000 new jobs. The adjusted figures show that there were 1.120 million jobs in legal services in September, up from 1.119 million in August. According to the bureau, this is the highest employment number in the legal sector since May 2009.
The news was a welcome surprise in the legal community, after recent reports of a “grim” outlook for large law firms’ profits and managing partners losing confidence in the economy.
The good news for the legal sector is in line with the national jobs report. Last week, the bureau reported that the national unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.8 percent—the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009. Overall, the economy added 114,000 jobs in September.
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