Good news for the semiconductor industry: the computer, electronic and semiconductor products manufacturing category in the tech sector added 2,500 new jobs in February. Of those 2,500, 1,300 were in the computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing subcategory.
With the exception of the telecommunications sector, tech’s five employment categories saw growth last month. An estimated 7,500 new tech jobs were added, out of a total of 20,000 in all industries. That’s the lowest number of overall job gains in a year and a half, and reflects a generally weak hiring trend throughout most of the U.S.
There were 4,000 additional jobs gained in data processing, hosting and related services. Telecommunications lost 2,300 jobs in February, the fourth straight month of losses in that subsector, according to CompTIA’s analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Employment Situation” report. Growth in technology services, custom software development and computer systems design meant there were approximately 3,300 new hires.
“Tech employment continues to trend upward. Beyond broad-based demand for core technical positions, job posting data indicates emerging tech roles are starting to make a meaningful contribution to tech employment gains,” said Tim Herbert, senior vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA.
IT occupations overall showed an upward trend with an additional 253,000 positions. That’s the largest gain in a single month since November 2015. The IT unemployment rate declined very slightly year-over-year, from 2.5% in February 2018 to 2.3% in February 2019, while overall U.S. unemployment sits at 3.8%.
There was no change in the ranking of tech skills sought by employers planning to hire in the future. Software and application developers, computer user support specialists and computer systems engineers and architects led the way.
Source: CompTIA
