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According to a report by American Electronics Association, a trade group that follows economic developments in the electronics industry, about 61,000 net jobs were added in the high-tech industry in 2005 to reach a total 5.6 million in the country.
US high-tech exports gained four per cent, for a total of $199 billion in 2005. Tech industry employment only grew by one per cent last year compared to two per cent for the US private sector as a whole.
"To promote the creation of high-paying technology jobs for the future, we need to address the competitiveness issues facing our country, today," said William T. Archey, president and CEO of AeA.
"This means that all Americans need to recognise that we live in an increasingly competitive world. To prepare ourselves for this challenge, we need to invest in long-term basic research, particularly in the physical sciences," Archey said.
"We need to reform our visa system so that the best and the brightest individuals come and stay in the United States, creating companies, products, wealth, and jobs. And most importantly, we need dramatic improvements in our educational system, so that our children are prepared to compete in an economy that is knowledge based and driven by technology," he added.
In recognising these competitiveness trends, Cyberstates 2006 shows that unemployment rates for most tech professions fell in 2005.
For example, the unemployment rate for electrical engineers was 1.5 per cent, the lowest rate in three years. These high-paid jobs are expected to grow significantly over the next 10 years. Nearly 1 million new computer specialists will be needed, as well as nearly 200,000 new engineers.
In specific sectors, the high-tech manufacturing industry added 3,300 net jobs in 2005, the first time tech manufacturing employment has increased since 2000.
Similarly, software services and engineering and tech services employment was up in 2005 for the second year in a row. This job growth is positive news for the US economy as tech industry jobs earn 85 per cent more than the average private sector job.
The report also found that after growing in 2004, venture capital investment in the technology industry fell by five percent in 2005. This was in part attributable to a decline in venture capital investments in software.
In California, widely considered the epicentre of the US tech industry, job loss slowed. In 2004, the latest year for which state data is available, high tech lost only 10,600 jobs, compared to a loss of 67,800 jobs in 2003.
The report also confirmed that California continues to lead the nation by most high-tech industry metrics. California tech companies report the largest payrolls of technology employers nationwide, and California tech workers had the highest average wage in the United States.
"California remains a fertile environment for new ideas and new technology companies," said Tim Guertin, president and CEO, Varian Medical Systems.
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