Employment in semiconductor space trending up throughout year

Although overall employment in the computer and electronics products sector was down 11,200 jobs year over year, employment in the semiconductor subsector actually grew by 4,400 jobs year to year. In fact, employment in the semiconductor space has been trending up since the beginning of the year, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The low point for the semiconductor sub-category was December 2009, when the bureau counted 359,700 jobs in the space. In August, the sector counted 370,200 jobs in semiconductors and electronic components.
The same cannot be said of the telecommunications job sector, which counts 50,000 fewer jobs from August 2009 to August 2010. Most of those lost jobs are in the wireline communications subsector. The number of jobs in the wireless category has stayed steady year over year, with about 700 more jobs from July 2009 to July 2010, for a total of 191,900 positions, according to the labor bureau. Data for subsector categories lags that of the overall sector by a month, so July information is the most recent available. More than 38,000 jobs have been lost in the wired telecom sector. Mass layoffs were down by 8 events to 12, year over year.
Overall, the number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate stood relatively unchanged, the bureau noted in its monthly assessment. A total of 14.9 million people are unemployed and the unemployment rate stood at 9.6% in August.