Unemployment
Legal services sector sheds 500 jobs in May
The U.S. legal services sector shed 500 jobs in May as the national unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point to 7.6 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau adjusted downward its preliminary estimate for legal services jobs added in April from 2,100 to 1,600. The May job losses come after three months of job growth for the legal industry.
The losses came as the overall U.S. economy made moderate gains, adding 175,000 jobs last month with the professional and business services sector contributing 57,000 to the count, the bureau said.
That sector's job growth was anchored by temporary help, computer systems design, and architectural and engineering jobs, the bureau said.
While the legal sector lost jobs in May, that did not significantly affect the number of people employed in the legal industry, which remained about 1.129 million, the bureau said. The report also showed there were 7,800 more people employed in the sector in May compared to the same time in 2012.
The news followed the release of the Federal Reserve Beige Book on June 5, which noted mixed business trends for the legal services sector, with modest increases in demand in Dallas and flat demand in San Francisco.
(Published by Thomson Reuters – June 7, 2013)