After reaching an all-time high in July, IT employment retreated in August. According to the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB), which tracks IT employment on a monthly basis, IT employment dipped by 5,200 workers, or about 0.1 percent from the previous month.

"There are always small month-to-month variances in IT employment levels attributable in part to changes in hiring and separation activity within particular industries as well as the normal movement of IT workers," said Mark Roberts, CEO of NACCB. "More notable is that overall IT employment is essentially unchanged from a year ago despite strong demand for IT professionals. We attribute the absence of growth to a shortage of qualified IT workers. This conclusion is further supported by extraordinarily low unemployment rates in many IT skillsets which are in some cases below 1%. Most economists agree that anything below 4% is essentially 'full employment,'" observed 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.

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, and therefore, the Index is revised accordingly. The IT Employment Index is also subject to annual revisions, most recently benchmarked in February 2007 with the publication of the BLS January 2007 employment report, which included major revisions to 2006 employment data.

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 over 360 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 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Source: National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses

Web Site: http://www.naccb.org/