Bob Marshall’s January 2020 BLS Analysis for Recruiters; 2/7/20
The 3 January Articles…
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GDP Growth Holds at 2.1% in Q4, Same as Previous Quarter
Daily News, January 30, 2020
US real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the “advance” estimate of GDP growth released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Real GDP also increased 2.1% in the third quarter, but the drivers differed. Growth contributions from both consumption and private investment “disappointed” in Q4, as did inventories, according to The Conference Board. However, strong residential investment and government spending and investment propped growth up. Additionally, weak import growth for the quarter resulted in a boost from net exports.
Today’s fourth-quarter GDP estimate was in line with the consensus forecast and just below The Conference Board’s forecast of 2.2%.
“While this growth rate is welcome, we do not expect an acceleration in US economic activity over the coming quarters,” said Erik Lundh, senior economist at The Conference Board. “Instead, The Conference Board expects the US economy to expand at around its long-term growth potential growth rate of 2%. While we project that the US economy will remain relatively steady in the near-term, the drivers of growth are likely to change.”
The Bureau of Economic Analysis also reported an advanced estimate of full-year 2019 real GDP growth of 2.3%, down from 2.9% in 2018 and 2.4% in 2017.
Tech Salary Guide: Chief Information Security Officers Top Earnings List Followed by CTOs, CIOs
Daily News, January 23, 2020
Chief information security officers and chief technical officers/chief information officers top this year’s list of highest-paid technology professionals, according to the annual technology salary guide released by Mondo, an IT and digital marketing staffing provider headquartered in New York.
Chief information security officer salaries range from $175,000 to $300,000 this year, according to the report. CIO and CTO salaries ranked second, ranging from $175,000 to $290,000.
The data surrounding tech jobs found that skills for AI and machine learning, business intelligence and data, as well as DevOps and cloud are highly sought-after, with each category offering multiple salaries of $200,000 or more.
Technology jobs with the highest salaries of $200,000 or more in 2020:
*Chief information security officer: $175,000-$300,000
*CTO/CIO: $175,000-$290,000
*AI developer: $120,000-$250,000
*Data architect: $145,000-$210,000
*Cloud architect: $150,000-$200,000
*DevSecOps architect: $160,000-$200,000
*DevSecOps engineer: $160,000-$200,000
*Network architect: $150,000-$200,000
*Salesforce solutions architect: $145,000-$210,000
*IoT solutions architect: $140,000-$210,000
*Python engineer: $120,000-$200,000
*SAP developer/ABAP: $120,000-$200,000
*Cybersecurity engineer: $120,000-$200,000
*Big data engineer: $110,000-$200,000
*Data scientist: $110,000-$200,000
IT Employment Ticks Down in December; 2020 May Not Bring Significant Growth
Daily News, January 15, 2020
IT employment in the US fell year over year in December, according to a report today from the TechServe Alliance, a trade association of the IT and engineering staffing solutions industry. And fears are 2020 won’t see significant growth in IT jobs.
“For the last 3 months of 2019, IT employment ticked down and is down on a year-over-year basis,” said Mark Roberts, CEO of the TechServe Alliance.
“While one likes to be hopeful at the beginning of a new year, I am pessimistic we will be able to achieve significant growth in IT employment given the severe talent shortage particularly in many high-demand skill sets,” Roberts said.
In addition, the US will likely fall well short of meeting demand for IT workers from US businesses given the increasingly restrictive immigration policies and an insufficient supply of domestic talent, he said.
The TechServe Alliance’s analysis found that IT jobs ticked down 0.04% on a month-over-month basis in December to a total or approximately 5,300,000 jobs. Looking at the change on a year-over-year basis, the number of IT jobs was down 0.06%, representing a net loss of 3,400 IT workers.
Separately, the TechServe Alliance also reported engineering employment rose by 0.07% on a month-over-month basis in December to nearly 2,700,000 jobs. The increase was 1.63% on a year-over-year basis.