U.S. Shed 560,000 High-Tech Jobs

By Agence France-Presse The number of high-tech jobs in the United States shrank by 560,000, or nearly 10%, from January 2001 to December 2002, according to an American Electronics Association (AeA) report released March 19. The AeA, using data from government statistics, said high-technology industries reduced the number of employees from 5.7 million in January 2001 to 5.1 million in December 2002. The AeA said high-tech manufacturing employment shrank by 415,000 jobs, a 20% drop, while the communications services industry saw a 9% decline, or 135,000 jobs lost in the period. The report also revealed that high tech, which had been the largest manufacturing sector in the United States, had now slipped behind food products and transportation equipment manufacturing in terms of employment. "On the positive side, software services actually increased by 5,300 jobs," says Archey. "This is consistent with the fact that many of the innovations in the high-tech industry are driven by software." Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2003