By Alison Knezevich, Law360 | July 5, 2024, 3:51 PM EDT
The U.S. legal sector added 1,400 jobs in June, continuing an uptick that began this spring, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of jobs in the industry grew to 1,190,600 in June, up from 1,189,200 in May, according to the bureau's seasonally adjusted numbers. That marks the third straight month of legal job gains, after a dip in March. The industry grew by 1,000 jobs in May and 1,800 in April, according to revised figures in the new report.
There were about 7,700 more legal industry jobs this June than there were during the same month last year, an increase of about 0.65%, the figures show. The employment count includes lawyers, paralegals and other legal professionals.
Michelle Fivel, a founding partner of legal recruiting firm Hatch Henderson Fivel, told Law360 Pulse in an interview Friday that the numbers are consistent with what she is seeing on the recruiting front, adding that "[mergers and acquisitions] deal flow tells the story."
Both global and U.S. deal values are up in the first half of this year, according to Dealogic. So far in 2024, the U.S. has seen more than $814 billion in deals, compared to $612 billion in the first half of last year, the financial data company has said.
Regardless of what monthly jobs reports show, "I think the best way to figure out what's going on in BigLaw is those M&A numbers," Fivel said. When M&A deals are up, "that's when we see firms go to the market to look for associate talent."
"The prediction has been that M&A deal flow is going to continue to pick up this year," Fivel added.
Other areas of demand for lawyers include litigation, restructuring and energy project finance, she said. In California, labor and employment law has been a busy area, too.
In total, the U.S. economy added 206,000 jobs in June, the BLS said, citing job gains in the government, healthcare, social assistance and construction sectors.
The overall unemployment rate was 4.1%, rising slightly from 4% in May, the bureau said.
--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong, Tracey Read and Al Barbarino. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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