In April, the legal sector lost 1,100 jobs and in March legal jobs decreased by 500. According to figures compiled by AM Law Daily, the legal sector has shed 22,000 jobs since May 2009.
The BLS reported the overall economy added 431,000 jobs in May, which helped the unemployment rate to drop two-tenths of a point to 9.7 percent. However, the number of jobs added last month was below most analysts’ expectations by some 100,000.
Economists are also concerned that job creation in the private sector was rather weak last month. The private sector added only 41,000 jobs in May, which follows an increase of 218,000 the previous month.