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The Fastest-Growing Tech State Is... Minnesota
Nerval's Lobster writes: What's the fastest-growing state for technology jobs? You might be tempted to say California or New York, or even North Carolina. But according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's actually Minnesota, which saw the size of its tech workforce jump 8.36 percent over the past six months, to 37,600 workers. Utah and Nebraska came in second and third on the list of fastest-growing states, with six-month tech-employment gains of 5.75 percent and 5.22 percent, respectively. Michigan and Florida came in fourth and fifth. States with smallish tech-worker populations can enjoy heady growth rates by adding relatively few workers. But not all states saw their tech workforce grow in the first half of 2015. Four states—Pennsylvania, Washington, North Carolina, and Alabama—actually saw their workforce decline by 0.61 percent, 0.63 percent, 2.36 percent, and 3.52 percent, respectively, during the period in question. The declines in Washington and North Carolina may come as a surprise to anyone following those states' tech industries, which are quite robust. In Washington's case, layoffs at Microsoft and other firms over the past few months may have contributed to the slight decline.
It's hard to retain people when mobs lasso your workers, drag them a mile down the road, and hang them.
So Dice is posting about a Dice story that references government reports, but provides links only to Dice job searches. Why would it be so damaging to link to the actual data?
Whether something is the fastest growing has a lot to do with where it started. It's a lot easier to double a small number than it is to double a big one. I wouldn't expect traditional tech hubs like California or Massachusetts to grow fast because they are already large. It's not even a little surprising that some place not normally considered a hotspot for tech jobs would grow the fastest.