Tom Brandt ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
: At 11:06 AM 6/25/2002 -0400, Jim Mc Coy wrote:
: >  So some of them are just happy to not have joined the massive ranks of
: > the unemployed IT workers.
: >
: >jm
:
: How massive? What's your source?
:
InformationWeek was tracking the IT unemployment rate through January:

   http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020215S0012
   InformationWeek > IT Jobless Rate > IT Jobless Rate On Rise Again >
   February 15, 2002

  "Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data reveals that unemployment
   among IT workers approached 6% in January, up from 4.4% in December
   and 2.7% in January 2001. The previous high was 5.5% in November.

   IT unemployment continued its climb to record heights in January after
   a one-month reprieve in December, when the jobless rate dipped for the
   first time in seven months. An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics
   employment data reveals that unemployment among IT workers approached
   6% last month, up from 4.4% in December and 2.7% in January 2001. The
   previous high was 5.5%, posted in November.

   [snip]

   As IT unemployment grew last month, the IT workforce force--a
   combination of IT workers and the unemployed seeking IT jobs--shrank
   to numbers not seen since before the dot-com boom. Further analysis of
   Bureau of Labor Statistics' numbers reveals that 270,000 fewer people
   worked in IT in January than a year earlier. That's a 9.1% decline, to
   2.71 million workers..."

When no more stories about the IT unemployment rate were published, I asked
why in InformationWeek's forums, and got the following reply (URL wrapped
to 2 lines):

   http://www.informationweek.com/forum/
   career?comment_id=49793&threaded=1#thread
   Career Development

   Title: Re: Why No More IT JOBLESS RATE stories?
   From: Paul Travis, Sr. News Editor
   Email: [log in to unmask]
   Date: 25-Apr-02 6:06 PM GMT
   Thread: Why No More IT JOBLESS RATE stories?

  "Hi Jerry:

   We want to do more stories like that. Unfortunately, the government no
   longer provides the data that we need to figure out the IT
   unemployment rate. The excuse they give is that they are not confident
   about the data and they say they won't provide the IT-specific numbers
   until they are sure the stats are accurate.

   However, we are working hard to find other sources of data that will
   give us a better understanding of unemployment in the IT industry. It
   is a topic that we intend to write about as often as we can.

   Paul Travis
   Sr. News Editor
   InformationWeek"

If the Bureau of Labor Statistics knows what the IT unemployment rate
is now, it isn't telling.

The ITAA's fairy tale about there being so many IT openings in the second
half of 2002 that there wouldn't be enough people to fill all of the
alleged openings was published on May 5.

How coincidental and convenient that there is no IT unemployment data
from the BLS since January to challenge the ITAA's study.

The unemployment rate of 5.9% doesn't mean that there isn't a massive
offshore job relocation. It just means that, so far,  there are enough
lower-paying jobs to absorb the unemployed IT workers.


--Jerry Leslie   [log in to unmask]  (my opinions are strictly my own)
  Note: [log in to unmask] is invalid for email

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *