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CompTIA: IT Sector Job Growth Comes With a ‘Degree of Disappointment’ in July

The U.S. IT sector last month added a modest 4,000 new jobs, including gains in computer-systems design, IT software and services, and other information services.

That’s according to CompTIA’s analysis of Friday’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation report. The IT sector recorded its second consecutive month of job growth, although at a significantly slower pace than in the prior month.

Through the first seven months of 2016, IT sector employment has increased by 47,100 jobs and stood at 4.39 million jobs at the end of July.

“In light of the employment gains nationally, the modest increase in IT sector employment could be viewed with a degree of disappointment,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s senior vice president of research and market intelligence. “Monthly data aside, the overarching trend for the IT sector remains favorable. As tech companies shift into new categories such as cloud, big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), they will seek a range of new skills.”{ad}

Computer-systems design, and IT software and services added 8,200 jobs, and other information services, including search portals, added 1,500 jobs.

“Services categories continue to outperform tech segments as the ‘everything-as-a-service’ trend expands its presence with customers of all sizes,” Herbert said.

July job declines were reported in computer and electronic products manufacturing, down 3,100, data processing, hosting and related services, down 2,300, and telecommunications, down 300.

The IT workforce includes two components: employment within the IT sector and IT occupations across all other industries. IT occupation employment declined by 88,000 jobs in July, down 1.9 percent. For the year, IT occupations are down by 46,000 jobs to an estimated 4,438,000.

The monthly IT occupation data from the BLS includes workers of all types – full-time, part-time and self-employed – which can result in higher levels of volatility from month-to-month.

For the overall economy in July, total non-farm payroll employment rose by 255,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent and the number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 7.8 million.