Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 861,500 telecom employees; 2.8% unemployment
After some growth in March, the telecommunications sector’s April employment figures returned to levels posted in January and February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The most recent reporting shows that the BLS tallied 861,500 telecom employees in April with an associated 2.8% unemployment rate.
Telecom employee ranks hit a four-month high in March with 863,200 employees and, similarly, unemployment hit a four-month low at 1.7%.
In January, the BLS counted 861,200 telecom employees with unemployment at 3.1%; those figures for February were 861,600 and 1.9%, respectively.
For purposes of the BLS tracking, the telecommunications subsector includes people who work in telephony, VoIP, cable and satellite television distribution; Internet access; and telecom reselling. The BLS describes the telecom subsector as “primarily engaged in operating, and/or providing access to facilities for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound and video.”
Broken down by job function, in April there were 150,060 equipment installers and repairers excluding line installers; 101,760 customer service reps; 63,020 line installers and repairers; 24,660 electronics engineers excluding computer engineers; 13,480 supervisors/managers; and 2,590 telephone operators.
In March, employees in this BLS section had average hourly earnings of $31.28 and average weekly hours of 38.6. That equates to average weekly pay of $1,207.41.
The BLS tracks monthly employment and associated figures.
