November 28, 2011, 3:39 PM — Jobless recovery has been the reality in the U.S. economy for more than a year according to Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers that show minimal or nonexistent growth from month to month.
BLS figures show the U.S. added 80,000 jobs in October and 103,000 in September.
That number of new jobs isn't high enough in either month to equal the 130,000 new jobs needed to to stay even with the pace of population growth, according to Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates, Inc.
It also doesn't take into account changes in job availability within specific market areas or specific job categories, which are the key for anyone looking for a job or any hiring manager trying to fill one, Janulaitis said.
The U.S. lost a net total of almost 5,000 jobs in IT durring October and September, according to Janco's own data:
| IT job losses in U.S., Sept. Oct. | |
|---|---|
| Telecommunications | 900 |
| Computer systems and design | 2,300 |
| Data processing and hosting | 500 |
| Other IT jobs | 1,400 |
| Net loss | 4,800 |
Source:Janco Associates
That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of demand out there, if you know where to look and you know what skills those hiring managers want.
Dice.com, the leading online IT-specific jobs board, culled its ads for October to offer a more detailed picture of job growth in the 10 skills in highest demand within IT in the 10 U.S. cities in which IT jobs are growing fastest.
The hottest IT skills and the cities where they're growing fastest:
| Fastest-Growing Metro Areas for IT jobs | ||
|---|---|---|
|
City
|
No. of new jobs
|
Pct. Growth
|
|
Atlanta
|
3,135
|
35%
|
|
Boston
|
3,225
|
27%
|
|
Dallas
|
2,731
|
27%
|
|
Chicago
|
3,687
|
21 %
|
|
Silicon Valley
|
5,497
|
19%
|
|
Los Angeles
|
3,277
|
12%
|
|
Seattle
|
2,614
|
12%
|
|
Philadelphia
|
2,290
|
11%
|
|
New York/New Jersey
|
8,965
|
5%
|
|
Washington D.C./Baltimore
|
8,778
|
5%
|
| **As of Oct. 10, 2011 | ||
What are the hottest skills in the hottest cities?
|
Fastest-Growing Metro Areas for IT jobs
|
||
| Salt Lake City, UT | Project Management | 177% |
| .NET | 108% | |
| J2EE/Java | 97% | |
| Quality Assurance | 91% | |
| JavaScript | 80% | |
| Linux | 63% | |
| Software Engineer | 60% | |
| Software Developer | 59% | |
| C, C++, C# | 54% | |
| Cleveland, OH | SQL Server | 167% |
| .NET | 138% | |
| SQL | 130% | |
| Oracle | 98% | |
| Windows (all versions) | 92% | |
| C, C++, C# | 69% | |
| Software Developer | 65% | |
| SAP | 53% | |
| Project Management | 51% | |
| XML | 270% | |
| Sacramento, CA | Software Engineer | 126% |
| SQL Server | 118% | |
| C, C++, C# | 92% | |
| .NET | 72% | |
| Project Management | 55% | |
| Windows (all versions) | 50% | |
| J2EE/Java | 49% | |
| Oracle | 29% | |
| JavaScript | 138% | |
| Richmond, VA | Linux | 113% |
| Project Management | 96% | |
| Unix | 56% | |
| J2EE/Java | 44% | |
| Windows (all versions) | 42% | |
| XML | 40% | |
| Oracle | 33% | |
| SQL Server | 33% | |
| SAP | 109% | |
| Detroit, MI | Unix | 94% |
| Windows (all versions) | 86% | |
| Oracle | 82% | |
| Project Management | 67% | |
| SQL Server | 62% | |
| C, C++, C# | 43% | |
| Software Developer | 34% | |
| SQL | 29% | |
| Peoplesoft | 259% | |
| Kansas City, MO | SAP | 182% |
| Oracle | 142% | |
| Project Management | 81% | |
| .NET | 62% | |
| C, C++, C# | 58% | |
| SQL Server | 56% | |
| SQL | 45% | |
| Software Developer | 44% | |
| CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) | 203% | |
| Atlanta, GA | JavaScript | 157% |
| Windows (all versions) | 103% | |
| SQL | 66% | |
| Project Management | 52% | |
| Oracle | 45% | |
| C, C++, C# | 44% | |
| Software Developer | 41% | |
| J2EE/Java | 38% | |
| JavaScript | 166% | |
| Raleigh, NC | XML | 134% |
| Project Management | 76% | |
| Windows (all versions) | 76% | |
| C, C++, C# | 75% | |
| J2EE/Java | 66% | |
| Oracle | 54% | |
| Software Developer | 53% | |
| SQL | 36% | |
| JavaScript | 126% | |
| Houston, TX | SQL Server | 57% |
| Windows (all versions) | 52% | |
| SAP | 47% | |
| Project Management | 40% | |
| Linux | 39% | |
| .NET | 39% | |
| SQL | 38% | |
| Oracle | 35% | |
| JavaScript | 131% | |
| Dallas, TX | Windows (all versions) | 63% |
| Project Management | 57% | |
| Software Developer | 57% | |
| J2EE/Java | 56% | |
| SQL | 54% | |
| Oracle | 47% | |
| C, C++, C# | 33% | |
| SQL Server | 33% | |
Source: Dice.com
Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
