Good Economy? Tech Layoffs Are Up

Nerval's Lobster writes: If you look at the broad numbers produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy seems great, especially for the tech industry: The unemployment rate for tech pros currently stands at 2.1 percent, down from 2.3 percent in the first quarter. However, that dip isn't uniform for all sectors: The unemployment rate for Web developers climbed from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent. Computer support specialists, network and systems administrators, computer & information systems managers, and database administrators also saw their respective unemployment rates rising slightly. Layoffs and discharges for the tech industry as a whole rose slightly in April and May (the latest months for which the BLS had numbers), to an average of 441,500 employees per month. That's higher than the first quarter, when layoffs and discharges averaged 424,300 per month. That's not to say we're on the verge of a collapse, bubble, or other economic shock, but it's definitely not great times for everybody.

Comments

Re:Great Economy?

[funwithBSD]

While no fan of Obama, he is using the same yardstick that every other President was measured by in the last 15 or so years.

Yes, it is a lie, but it is a lie we agreed on as the standard. Changing the goalposts in the middle of the presidency for arguments sake is also disingenuous at best.

Anyone who live through the Carter recession, Regan boom, Bush 1 recession, Clinton boom, internet bust, Bush 2 boom/bust cycle, knows this one is fundamentally different. In part because the industrial age continues to fade, and the tech revolution continues to grow, while our measuring sticks don't change.
(and in part because Obama's policies are objectively and rationally not working as well as he claimed they would)
The whole process needs to be revamped with the increase in tech workers. The current system is based around factory and 40hr a week officer workers.

Adjustments need to be made, with clear indications of how the raw numbers differ, for:
People who want to work a full time job but can't
People who choose to work less than full time.
An "overemployment" number to show workers who work full time, but report more than 40hrs per week. Those hours need to be part of the unemployment number as they directly add to the unemployment number if a company can avoid hiring more people by making workers put in more hours, overtime or salary.
Self employed are not counted in the current numbers, they should be. Too many "independent contractors" are hidden in the numbers.