The U.S. legal services sector is projected to break its record high employment level after adding 4,500 jobs in December, according to Labor Department data released on Friday.
Legal sector jobs totaled 1,190,500 last month, according to preliminary seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The count includes a range of legal workers, including paralegals and assistants, but the majority are lawyers, Labor Department figures show.
The December figure surpasses the sector's prior record of 1,187,900 jobs in July 2022, though the numbers could still be revised downward.
U.S. employers overall hired more workers than expected in December while wages rose at a solid clip, casting some doubt on financial market expectations that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting interest rates in March.
U.S. legal employment has shown a clear upward trajectory over the past decade despite occasional declines, according to BLS data.
The sector shed 68,900 jobs within a month at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since October 2021, the number of jobs in the U.S. legal sector has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, BLS data show.
The recent jobs growth comes despite an extended decline for one key driver of legal services at many large law firms - corporate mergers & acquisitions. Global M&A activity fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2023, according to Dealogic, but bankers and lawyers expect a pick-up as conditions improve.
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