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IT employment passes 4 million again, regains recession losses

17.05.2011
In November 2008, two months after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and to lay off some 25,000 workers, IT employment reached 4 million for the first time.

From that point on, the economy worsened rapidly and . By mid-2009, nearly 200,000 IT jobs disappeared.

The recession was particularly hard on older IT workers. For , age 55 and above, the unemployment rate hit 9.4% last year.

TechServe Alliance, an industry group of service companies that analyzes U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, said Monday that IT employment has finally returned, surpassing the November 2008, 4 million high point for the first time.

The new record came in February, but wasn't known until this month following a subsequent and routine revision of BLS data, according to Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe. "I think [4 million IT jobs] is an important psychological milestone," he said.

Roberts said TechServe Alliance has seen strong demand from IT staffing firms, typically a bellwether for broader IT hiring.