By Casey Sullivan
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. legal services sector
shed 2,400 jobs in January, even as the overall economy added
157,000 jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on
Friday.
The bureau also adjusted its preliminary estimate for legal
services jobs added in December from 1,000 to 1,900. But even
with the adjustment, the legal services sector has still lost
500 jobs since November.
The number of people employed in the legal industry stood at
1.125 million in January, the bureau said. Throughout 2012, the
number of people employed in the legal industry ranged from 1.12
to 1.13 million.
The news comes after Wells Fargo reported in November based
on a survey of 115 law firms that 15 percent of law firms
planned to reduce partnership ranks in the first quarter of
2013. Wells Fargo also reported that revenue for law firms in
2012 increased by 5 percent compared with 2011.
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