Job confidence among legal professionals plunged in September, according to the Hudson Employment Index, which measures worker confidence in the employment market. The current statistics are the lowest on record for the legal field, as nearly all indices contributing to the index fell.

“The only reason that we've come up with so far for this decrease is that employers have stalled on their plans to increase staff,” says Steven Levine, vice president of national permanent operations for Hudson Legal. “We're still looking into other possible factors.”

One of the most striking results of the survey is the dramatic drop in job satisfaction. Although 67 percent of legal professionals reported being happy with their jobs, this statistic marks a 14-point drop from August.

The hiring situation isn't fairing well either. Hiring expectations in the legal sector dropped by six percent from August, as only a quarter of respondents forecast hiring for September.

Legal professionals also weren't very confidant about holding on to their current positions. The number of workers concerned about job loss more than doubled, as that figure rose from 11 percent in August to 23 percent.

When asked how they would rate whether their personal finances were getting better or worse, 44 percent of legal professionals said they were getting worse, a 12 percent increase from August, when 32 percent of legal professionals reported their finances were getting worse. During the same timeframe, the number of employees who said their financial situation was improving fell six points to 41 percent. However, when asked to rate their current personal finances, 51 percent of respondents described their money situation as excellent or good, a 6-percent increase from August.

“At the present time, I think people are still concerned about finances, although I don't know the reason yet,” Levine says. “We don't expect this to continue, but it could be another reason why people reported being concerned about their job status.”

Although things seemed to have gone sour in September, Levine says that the plunge was likely an anomaly.

“By the end of the year and into the first quarter of 2007, we expect the index to either level off or climb,” he says. “There's been no significant change to the economy, and we are right now determining whether the drop was an anomaly or in fact a trend.”

The Hudson Employment Index is a monthly report. It surveys approximately 9,000 U.S. workers across all career levels and industries. The index tracks trends in career opportunities, hiring intentions, personal finances and job satisfaction.