IT Employment Continues to Decline in December

LEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After dropping markedly in November by approximately 36,000 jobs or .92% (revised), IT employment continued its decline in December dropping by an additional 13,900 jobs or .36%. With the December decline, IT employment stands at 3,857,200. Despite the drop over the last two months, IT employment was still up year-over-year -- continuing to outperform the general employment marketplace.

"While proving to be more resilient than the broader employment market through much of the year, the last two months clearly demonstrated IT employment is not immune to the macroeconomic trends adversely affecting the economy," observed Mark Roberts, CEO of NACCB. "While long-term growth prospects for IT employment remain extremely favorable, based on all the data and reports we are seeing, we do not believe there will be a return to a pattern of growth in the near term," added Roberts.

The IT employment index is published by the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB), the national trade association representing IT staffing and solutions firms. For complete index please visit:http://www.naccb.org/employment-index/index.cfm

Technical note: NACCB's IT Employment Index is the first specific measurement of IT employment. This unique measurement of total IT employment is created monthly by studying the ongoing staffing patterns of a dozen IT and computer related occupations in 16 industries and industry sectors employing significant numbers of IT workers including the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, financial, information services, business and professional services, and education and health industries. The monthly IT Employment Index is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, which is subject to monthly revisions, with concomitant revisions to the Index. The IT Employment Index is also subject to annual revisions of BLS data. The IT Index was rebenchmarked in February 2008 with the publication of the BLS January 2008 employment report, reflecting significant revisions of employment data from the past several years.

ABOUT NACCB

NACCB is the only organization solely devoted to representing IT Staffing and Solutions firms and their employees who are creating a new paradigm for the flexible workforce driving the 21st Century economy. These firms provide IT staff augmentation, IT solutions, IT project management, and IT consulting services to America's businesses. NACCB represents almost 400 IT services companies serving as the industry voice for public policy. NACCB also supports member companies in efficiently delivering high quality services to their clients. NACCB is headquartered inAlexandria, Virginia.