The U.S. unemployment rate has declined, and ended the year at 5.6 percent. Economists note that 2014 was the best year for job growth since 1999. For computer science and IT professionals, the news was also good. In December, 7,900 jobs were added (up from 6,900 in October), according to Janco Associates’ analysis of employment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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“In 2014 almost 113,000 jobs were added, which is a really good sign especially compared with last year this time when only 70,000 jobs were added through the same period,” Janco CEO M V Janulaitis said in a prepared statement. “That is real a strong positive sign that the economy is turning around.”
The international consulting firm, which focuses on the IT industry, has interviewed nearly 100 CIOs in recent weeks, and the findings further support the uptick in computer science and IT related jobs illustrated in the BLS data. “We find that hiring is on a definite upswing and there is a real shortage of IT pros with experience in cloud-based applications and mobile computing. In addition, as we are capturing data for our next IT salary survey which is to be published in January, we are finding that there is an upward pressure on compensation for the first time since 2002,” Janulaitis said.
Despite the improvements, job market participation of rate fell again to a new low of 62.7 percent.
