Cuts in computer scientists and systems analysts, support specialists, and software engineers fueled the decline, a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows.
By Chris Murphy
InformationWeek
October 3, 2008 04:44 PM
The number of people employed in U.S. information technology jobs dropped 2% from the second quarter, one of the first signs that the broader economic slowdown is leading to IT job cuts, according to a government report issued Friday.
U.S. IT employment had kept growing over the first half of the year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics quarterly household survey data, but in the past three months fell to just over 4 million, from 4.1 million last quarter, led by cuts in computer scientists and systems analysts, support specialists, and software engineers.
The IT job losses come amid rising unemployment across the U.S. economy, including the managerial and professional ranks. Managerial and professional unemployment hit 3%, from 2% at the beginning of the year, according to the bureau's data. IT unemployment at 2.3% is around the level it has been all year, as the pool of total IT workers -- employed and unemployed -- seems to react quickly to the availability of jobs. The overall unemployment rate stayed at 6.1%, a five-year high.
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