Legal Job Market Down for Fourth Straight Month

This spring may have brought flowers, but unemployed lawyers probably are more interested in stomping those pretty stems than smelling them right now. According to the AmLaw Daily, May marked another month of job losses in the legal field, with 1,000 positions lost in that month alone. Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the AmLaw Daily is reporting a decrease of 2,700 legal jobs as compared to the same time last year.

Attorneys may have gotten their hopes up after initial April statistics showed an increase of 1,500 jobs. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ revised data reveals that instead of an increase, the legal job market actually decreased by 700 jobs in April. These negative numbers in the law arena are set against a backdrop of a slowly-improving overall economy, which saw an uptick of 232,000 jobs in April and a much more modest climb of 54,000 jobs in May (which was less than predicted).

These statistics come at the heels of NALP’s recent report on the dismal job prospects encountered by the Class of 2010.

AmLaw Daily Source

Read More:
Class of 2010 Law Grads Face Dismal Job Prospects
Almost 3K BigLaw Attorneys Down the Drain

CONNECT WITH VAULT LAW ON TWITTER! @VaultLaw