High-techtwo years after the boom
Geoff Bowlby
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After a sharp decline of 10% in 2001, employment in computer and telecommunications (CT) industries stabilized somewhat in 2002 and into 2003. In the first quarter of 2003, it was 570,000, down 3% from a year earlier and 12% below its 2001 peak.
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After shedding one in four workers between the first quarters of 2001 and 2002, the manufacturing part of the CT sector was essentially unchanged a year later. In the services component, a large drop in telecommunications employment was almost offset by a rebound in computer design and related services.
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While demand for high-tech workers decreased, median wage rates for employees did not fall, in part because of the continued layoff of lower-skilled, lower-paid workers.
Author
Geoff Bowlby is with the Labour Statistics Division and can be reached at (613) 951-3325 or perspectives@statcan.gc.ca.
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