October 19, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Shrinking employment in the information sector by State, March 2003–04

Among the 14 States in which information-sector employment exceeded 75,000 in March 2003, 11 reported over-the year job decreases a year later, two were essentially unchanged, and only one recorded an increase.

[Chart data—TXT]

The largest over-the-year employment declines in the information sector in March 2004 were in California (-16,800), followed by Texas (-7,100), and Massachusetts (-5,000). The only State to post an over-the-year employment increase in the information sector was Washington.

Among States with employment declines in the information sector, the telecommunications subsector was typically the hardest hit, with particularly heavy losses in California, Texas, and New York. Employment declines were also widespread in the publishing subsector, in California, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Florida and California, which have a large concentration of jobs in the Internet service providers industry, bore the brunt of this industry’s losses.

Nationwide, 56,000 information-sector jobs were lost over this 12-month period.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics State and Area program. Data in this article are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more about changes in employment in the information sector, see Employment in the information sector in March 2004, by Gerald Perrins, in the Monthly Labor Review, September, 2004. In the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the information sector is NAICS code 51. It includes publishing industries, motion picture and sound recording industries, broadcasting and telecommunications, and information services and data processing services.