Today AeA released an employment study based on government data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows that the U.S. high-tech industry added 118,500 jobs between January and June of 2007, a two percent rise, for a total of 5.94 million. This is slightly less than the 143,000 tech jobs added in the first half of 2006. The January to June 2007 tech job growth lags that of the U.S. private sector, which rose by 3.3 percent over that period. The report looks at four sectors within the high-tech industry: high-tech manufacturing, communications services, software services, and engineering and tech services.

High-tech manufacturing employment in the United States is up in the first six months of 2007. Technology manufacturers added 1,800 net jobs in the United States from January to June of 2007 for a total of 1.34 million jobs. This represents a slight 0.1 percent increase.

High-tech services employment in the United States is also up, adding 116,600 net jobs in the United States from January to June of 2007. This represents a 2.6 percent rise. Within tech services, the most significant growth occurred in engineering and tech services, which added 52,600 jobs, a 3.3 percent rise. Software services added 51,100 jobs, also a 3.3 percent rise. Communications services increased by 12,900 jobs, or 1.0 percent, from January to June of 2007.

"This is the third straight year that the U.S. tech industry is adding jobs," said AeA's President and CEO, William T. Archey. "It is also the first year since the bursting of the high-tech bubble that all four tech sectors are experiencing job growth. This benefits the U.S. economy greatly because tech industry wages pay 86 percent more than the average private sector wage and support numerous other jobs."

"As good as this news is, we continue to believe tech industry job growth would be even more robust if U.S. policymakers were dealing with the challenges posed by heightened global competition and the lack of available qualified workers," continued Archey. "Congress and the President acknowledged these challenges by passing the America Competes Act in August. This legislation -- which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support -- expands programs to attract undergraduates to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and introduces creative programs to enhance the capabilities of math and science teachers. The tech industry desperately needs this talent. Companies continue to have thousands of unfilled positions across the country. It is now up to Congress and the President to fully fund the America Competes Act."

"But the initiatives in that legislation represent long-term solutions," concluded Archey. "Additionally, policymakers currently need to reform U.S. high-skilled visa policy. We should be attracting, not shunning, the best and brightest talent from around the world, either through temporary H-1B visas or permanent employment-based green cards. Instead, the United States places arbitrary caps on H-1Bs and imposes a time consuming, bureaucratic process on obtaining green cards."

All data are compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Employment Survey and are preliminary. This report is not comparable to AeA's annual Cyberstates report, which examines the high-tech industry for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

This report, as well as all installments of the AeA Competitiveness Series, can be downloaded for free at: http://www.aeanet.org/cs.

About AeA

AeA, the nation's largest technology trade association with 2,500 member companies representing all segments of the high-tech industry, is dedicated solely to helping our members' top line and bottom line. We do this in partnership with our small, medium, and large member companies by lobbying governments at the state, federal, and international levels, providing access to capital and business opportunities, and offering select business services and networking programs. For more information, please visit http://www.aeanet.org/.