U.S. Tech Sector Is on the Mend, Report Says

The U.S. high-tech sector is bouncing back after several rough years, the federal government said Tuesday, although jobs in the industry have been slower to return.

After a punishing slump that saw many firms post huge losses or file for bankruptcy protection, the high-tech sector is showing signs of recovery as businesses are investing once again in computers and other information technology, the Commerce Department said.

Though high-tech industries make up only 8% of the gross domestic product, they will account for nearly one-third of the economic growth this year, according to a report prepared by the department’s Economics and Statistics Administration.

The picture has not been as bright for workers with high-tech skills, according to the report. Between 2000 and 2002 the sector shed one-third of the 1.8 million jobs it had added since 1993, the report said, and many of those jobs may not come back because of increasing automation and the relocation of jobs to countries with lower labor costs.

The average high-tech salary declined 1.3% last year to $67,440 even as salaries for the private sector as a whole inched up 1% to an average of $36,520, the report said.

The tech recovery has been uneven, the report said, because computer and semiconductor makers have rebounded from significant losses while telecommunications equipment makers have continued to struggle.