US Information sector employment falls to lowest level since 2020
Employment in the US Information sector fell by another 10,000 jobs in September, taking the total to 2.739 million, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The September decline leaves employment in the sector at its lowest level since December 2020. Excluding the sharp fall recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest level is the lowest since December 2014.
The Information sector has lost about 376,000 jobs, or 12.1 per cent, since reaching a peak in November 2022, according to the figures cited in the analysis.
The decline has been spread across several parts of the sector. BLS data show that publishing employment fell by 4,000 in September, while broadcasting and content providers lost 3,000 jobs. Telecommunications employment declined by 1,700, while computing infrastructure, data processing and web-hosting services fell by 1,600.
The figures cover a broad group of industries, including publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications, motion pictures and sound recording, data processing, web hosting and other information services. As a result, the decline should not be read as a measure of employment across the entire US technology industry.
The latest figures also come against a wider slowdown in the American labour market. The US economy added just 29,000 non-farm jobs in September, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2 per cent. BLS said employment changed little across all major industries during the month.
The current downturn is being compared with the employment decline that followed the 2001 recession. During that period, Information employment fell by about 568,000 jobs, or 15.3 per cent, between March 2001 and December 2003, according to the comparison cited in the analysis.
The latest decline is therefore approaching the scale of the earlier downturn in percentage terms, although the broader economic conditions are different. BLS historical data show that the Information sector was already a major employer during the early 2000s, with about 3.7 million workers in the first quarter of 2001.
The September figures do not by themselves establish that the US is entering a crisis in the Information sector. However, the prolonged decline since 2022 points to sustained pressure on employment across several information-related industries.
At the same time, some areas of the wider US economy continue to add jobs. Healthcare employment increased by 17,000 in September and construction added 11,000, although both sectors recorded slower growth than their recent averages.
The latest data suggest that the Information sector is facing a prolonged employment contraction, while the broader US labour market is also showing signs of losing momentum.
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