Research released by AeA Wednesday showed that the number of U.S. high-tech jobs added between January and July of this year lagged behind the same figure in 2007.
The U.S. high-tech industry added 78,300 jobs during this time period, representing a 1.3% rise, for a total of 5.92 million jobs. The growth is less than the 111,400 jobs added during the same period in 2007, according to the technology trade association. The trend toward adding jobs is a positive sign, but considering the recent economic turmoil in the U.S., AeA officials said future growth remains uncertain.
"This is the fourth straight year that the U.S. tech industry is adding jobs," said AeA's President and CEO Christopher Hansen. "But the pace of growth is slowing and given the economic downturn and current disruption in financial markets, future job growth will be -- at best -- uncertain."
AeA's study is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and looks at four sectors within the high-tech industry: high-tech manufacturing; communications services; software services; and engineering and tech services.
According to AeA's data, high-tech services added 80,800 net jobs, a 1.8% increase. Software services added 42,300 jobs, a 2.6% rise. Communications services decreased by almost 1% or 11,500 jobs. And the most significant growth occurred in engineeringg and tech services, which added 50,000 jobs, representing a 3.1% increase.
The Leader in Network Knowledge
