Better Job Market Offset by Manufacturing Decline

US high-tech jobs have increased for the third year in a row, said the American Electronics Association (AEA), and there is a strong labor market for scientists and engineers, the supply of which is increasing, reports the National Science Founation (NSF). According to AEA's 11th annual "Cyberstates 2008: A Complete State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry," the high-tech industry continued growing in 2007, adding 91,400 net jobs -- a total of 5.9 million -- in the US on top of job gains of 139,000 in 2006 and 87,400 in 2005. However, it said national tech growth slowed in 2007. Software services added 82,600 jobs in 2007, up for the fourth year in a row; engineering and tech services added 45,800 jobs in 2007, an all-time high. But high-tech manufacturing lost 29,800 net jobs in 2007 and seven of the nine tech manufacturing sectors lost jobs in 2007; but the defense electronics and electromedical equipment sectors added jobs, the AEA said. Science and engineering work-force availability in the US is under scrutiny by observers who worry about the nation's ability to fill future demand, but three National Science Foundation (NSF) reports show increasing supplies of scientists and engineers and a strong labor market. According to NSF data, those in S&E occupations grew by 4.3 percent, and their unemployment rate dropped to 2.5 percent in 2006, the lowest since the early '90s. See: www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08305/