IT sector employment grew by a net gain of 9,000 jobs in January 2017, according to a CompTIA analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Here are five things to know.
- The January job growth was led by the software and technology services category, which represented an addition of around 12,500 new positions.
- Other growing job categories included information services (1,900 new jobs) and data processing, hosting and related services (1,200 new jobs).
- Not all job categories experienced job growth last month; telecommunications saw a loss of 3,800 jobs and computer and electronics products manufacturing saw a loss of 2,800 jobs.
- When considering IT occupations in industries outside of the IT sector, CompTIA noted that January experienced a decline of 50,000 jobs.
- Overall, IT job growth is "subject to month-to-month volatility," according to CompTIA. In 2016, IT sector employment grew by around 73,900 jobs; however, when considering monthly trends, there were seven months of job growth and five months of job losses.