Posted on: Thursday, October 10, 2002

Drop in U.S. tech jobs may be slowing

By Matthew Fordahl
Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The number of U.S. tech jobs fell by 113,000 in the first six months of 2002, but the rate of job loss appears to be slowing, according to a new report.

More than 5.2 million workers hold tech jobs — down from a peak of 5.7 million in March 2001, according to the report released today by the American Electronics Association.

Tech industry employment has declined every month since March 2001 — a year after the tech bubble first showed signs of bursting with the shutdown of dot-coms and steep declines in the stock markets.

But there are signs of improvement, according to the report.

Only 700 jobs were lost between May and June 2002 — the smallest month-to-month decline since May 2001. About 16,000 jobs were lost from April to May.

"Nonetheless, the future outlook remains uncertain," William T. Archey, the association's chief executive, said in the report.

Among high-tech sectors, electronics manufacturing has been hardest hit. In the first six months of 2002, it has seen employment fall by 3 percent, or 58,000 jobs.

Electromedical equipment was the only electronics manufacturing sector to gain employees in the first six months of 2002. It added 1,600 positions.

The beleaguered communications services industry lost some 36,000 jobs between January and June. It has lost 111,000 jobs since May 2001.

Software services was the only software and computer-related services sector to add jobs in the period. It gained 3,000 positions.

The American Electronics Association's statistics were compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Employment Statistics survey. The survey's sample includes 350,000 businesses that employ about 39 million workers.

The AEA, a trade association, represents more than 3,000 high-tech companies.