Information Industry Snapshot

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The information sector comprises establishments engaged in the following processes: (a) producing and distributing information and cultural products, (b) providing the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications and (c) processing data. The main components of this sector are the publishing industries, including software publishing, both traditional publishing and publishing exclusively on the Internet; the motion picture and sound recording industries; the broadcasting industries, including traditional broadcasting and those broadcasting exclusively over the Internet; the telecommunications industries; the industries known as Internet service providers and web search portals, data processing industries and the information services industries.

Counts from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program show that as a portion of the national economy, information represents about 2.6 percent of all employment and 1.9 percent of all establishments.

Current Employment Statistics estimates show annual average information employment rising from 2,738,000 in 1994 to 3,631,000 in 2000, then declining. During 2003, information employment was 3,198,000, on average.

Employment of non-supervisory workers in information stood at 1,928,000 in 1994 and rose to a high of 2,530,000 in 2001. In 2003, the number of non-supervisory workers in information was 2,354,000, on average.

In 2003, the average weekly hours of non-supervisory workers in information was 36.2, which was above the average of 33.7 for all private industry.

The average hourly earnings of information non-supervisory workers were $21.01 in 2003, well above the average of $15.35 for production and non- supervisory workers in all private industry.

Employment Projections data indicate that employment in the information sector will increase 18.5 percent over the 2002-12 period. Total employment for all industry sectors is projected to increase 14.8 percent.