According to jobs watcher Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 4,845 computer industry jobs were lost through April in the United States, plus another 7,421 in telecom. That's up from the 2,301 computer jobs and 4,752 telecom jobs lost through April 2011.

But on the bright side, IT jobs continued to grow briskly overall in April, according to TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients and customers that bases its findings on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. In April, the number of IT jobs grew by 17,000 or 0.4% sequentially to 4,168,700, according to TechServe Alliance. April marks the fourth straight month in which IT employment has reached a new record high. IT jobs rose by 117,000, or 2.9%, in the past 12 months.

Bob Brown tracks network research in his Alpha Doggs blog and Facebook page, as well on Twitter and Google +. 

in Network World's Data Center section.