By Tracey Read | 2025-03-07 13:09:53
Following modest gains at the beginning of the year, the U.S. legal sector lost 3,300 jobs in February, according to preliminary data released Friday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Seasonally adjusted legal sector jobs decreased to 1,189,500 in February, down from 1,192,800 in January, which was revised from 1,194,900 in the previous report. In January, there were 800 more legal jobs than in December, which had 1,192,000 such positions, the newly released preliminary figures also showed.
Last month, the BLS announced it had revised its seasonally adjusted data from January 2020 forward as part of its annual "benchmarking process." The changes included correcting a previously reported loss of 1,200 legal jobs in December.
Michelle Fivel, a legal recruiter at Hatch Henderson Fivel, said she was surprised to hear that legal sector jobs were down by 3,300 last month.
"It doesn't jibe with what we are seeing in the market and what we are hearing from our clients,'' she told Law360 Pulse in an email on Friday. "Our clients are, by and large, the AmLaw 200 and high-end boutiques, and, without exception, we are being told that they had a very strong performance in 2024 and positive momentum at the start of 2025. My guess is that the numbers are in reference to staff reductions or attorneys in-house or in smaller firms — or perhaps most likely, government.''
The broader labor market remained relatively flat in February, with a 4.1% unemployment rate and a total nonfarm payroll employment increase of 151,000 jobs, the BLS reported. Employment gains were seen in the healthcare, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance sectors, while federal government employment declined.
Law firms have been inundated with interest from lawyers in the federal government in the wake of President Donald Trump's early moves, which include mass firings, ordering the end of remote work and dramatically changing enforcement priorities.
Recruiters say job losses have touched a range of attorneys, from those whose entry-level offers were rescinded because of the federal hiring freeze to high-profile officials the president fired.
"For many, this has been a bit of a crisis for them, and they urgently need advice about how to pursue a new job," Jeffrey Lowe, CenterPeak LLC's market president for Washington, D.C., previously told Law360 Pulse.
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