The US Lost A Chunk Of Legal Sector Jobs In January

Flickr / Sybren A. Stüvel

As law school applications plummet and more lawyers than ever are graduating from school without finding a job, the newest jobs report revealed the legal industry lost 2,400 jobs in January, according to the Labor Department.

But don't despair just yet.

The economy added 6,500 legal jobs over the past year, including 1,900 in December and 1,000 in November. Legal jobs grew progressively throughout the year, with 800 jobs added in February and 600 in May, monthly BLS reports show.

Overall, the legal services sector employed 1.125 million people in January, down from 1.128 million in December.

The last two months have brought the industry's largest workforce since May 2009, but 50,000 law jobs have been lost since the legal world's peak before the recession, Am Law Daily reported.

The slow start in legal jobs reflects sluggish economic growth. The economy only added 157,000 jobs in January. And the nation's unemployment rate rose from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent, according to Friday's BLS report.