As May Job Growth Lags Estimates, Legal Jobs See an Uptick

As May Job Growth Lags Estimates, Legal Jobs See an Uptick

The Canadian legal industry added 2,000 jobs in May as overall job board growth came in below expectations.

While it was expected to add 5,000 legal jobs in May, the Canadian labor force was only able to muster less than half of that. But the legal industry, did see improvement from a disappointing March and April. As May Job Growth Lags Estimates, Legal Jobs See an Uptick

The Canadian economy added roughly 75,000 jobs in May, a sharp contrast to the previous several months in which the count averaged 164,000 jobs and job boards.

While not an imposing gain for the legal sector, which includes attorneys, paralegals, legal secretaries and other professional legal roles, a month-over-month increase of 2,000 jobs in May shows a change in direction from April, when the legal industry experienced a net loss of 1,800 jobs.

The 1,143,000 current total lawyer jobs in the legal sector represent a 3,000 job increase from the same period in 2018. The industry as a whole has hovered around the 1.14 million mark since December of 2016, with slight movement each month, but no significant change in either direction.