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In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its preliminary findings that three hundred legal jobs had been added during the month of May.  In July, those numbers changed as the final tallies were released.  Turns out, the true number reveals a loss of six hundred jobs in the legal sector.  With May and now June’s preliminary numbers, close to four thousand jobs have been cut.  A. Harrison Barnes, attorney and LawCrossing.com founder, says this brings the total number for the past year to more than 22,000 job losses in this field alone.  Paralegals, legal secretaries and lawyers make up these numbers.  Further, these cuts are being felt in every region of the country.

The numbers can be confusing, especially when it seems one report or set of statistics contradicts others, says the LawCrossing.com founder, but there are many factors that go into the formulas.  For instance, BLS reports a national unemployment rate of 9.5%, down two tenths of a percent from May.  But there were more than 400,000 jobs cut due to the temporary census workers who’d wrapped up their jobs.  While the numbers can be confusing and the formulas used to calculate them even more confusing, the total picture doesn’t appear to be improving as much as Americans had hoped. The startling numbers just from the legal sector is proof things are not nearly as good as many had hoped.

Even the seemingly good news regarding the traditional jump in seasonal employment is threatened, says A. Harrison Barnes.  Typically, close to 28,000 jobs are added in the hospitality, amusement, gambling and recreation sectors; however, with the Gulf Coast region feeling major declines in the number of vacationers, it appears these numbers will need to be adjusted as well.  Many businesses in this region of the country reported their big moneymaker of the year, traditional 4th of July celebrations, were way down over the long weekend.  One vendor along Biloxi Beach said his equipment, including boats and law chairs, are traditionally rented out in the summer months by 9 a.m. each day.  The holiday weekend revealed more than 85% of his equipment not being used.

Whether or not the drastic reduction in the legal sector is indicative of a fluke remains to be seen; however, it should be noted in May, 2008, the American legal sector saw a loss of 1,100 jobs.  Still, many believed those months of such drastic drops were over.  The national employment level then was at 5.5%.  Economists and other experts were already panicking because it was the highest unemployment numbers in more than two decades.

Less than one percent of working American adults consider themselves employed within the legal sector; clearly, that statistic might see a big drop in the coming weeks and months.

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