IT Jobs Thriving Despite Lackluster Economy

A look at the week of August 15 in public advocacy for the IT channel: This week, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released a plan to improve U.S. cybersecurity by focusing on education. A new Treasury report finds fewer small businesses than previously thought. Unemployment in the IT sector remains much lower than the national average and employment is expected to grow rapidly.

U.S. Agency Releases Cyber-Education Plan — The U.S. government will work to develop an “unrivaled” cybersecurity workforce and broaden the nation’s pool of skilled cyberworkers under a draft cybersecurity education plan released by a U.S. agency, says PC World. The goal of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) plan, released by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is to improve U.S. cybersecurity by focusing on education, the agency said.

Treasury Report Finds Fewer Small Businesses — Few groups are as fiercely defended by Republicans and Democrats alike as small-business owners—especially when it comes to changes in the tax code. But a new analysis from the Treasury Department suggests that the pool of actual small-business owners may be smaller and generate a slimmer amount of the country’s business income than officials previously thought, reports The Wall Street Journal.

IT Jobs Thriving Despite Lackluster Economy — Even in a tough labor market, IT is where the jobs are. The unemployment rate for technology jobs was 3.3% in June, compared with a 9.2% unemployment rate overall that month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the most recent edition of its Occupational Outlook Handbook, the BLS said it expects IT employment to grow “much faster than the average” of all occupations through 2018, reports CNBC.com.