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CompTIA Cyberstates 2017™ finds workforce expanded by 2.7%

Little Rock, Ark. – Technology industry employment In Arkansas grew by an estimated 2.7 percent in 2016, as employers added some 700 new jobs, according to Cyberstates 2017™, the definitive annual analysis of the nation’s tech industry released today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology association.

With an estimated 26,900 workers, Arkansas ranks 39^th among the 50 states in tech industry employment.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Arkansas – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 42,100 in 2016.

The tech sector accounts for an estimated 3.3 percent ($3.9 billion) of the overall state economy.

The annualized average wage for a tech industry worker in Arkansas was an estimated $69,300 in 2016, 68 percent higher than the average state wage ($41,200).

Other Key Findings

• The state is home to an estimated 3,223 tech business establishments.
• The tech industry employs an estimated 2.3 percent of the overall state workforce.
• Leading tech occupations include computer user support specialists (3,970), network and computer systems administrators (3,220) and computer systems analysts (3,080).
• The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of engineering services (+ 6 percent) and computer systems design and IT services (+ 5.9 percent).
• Employers posted an estimated 2,536 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016.

Cyberstates 2017 is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, and other sources. Estimates for 2016 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete report with full national, state and metropolitan level data is available at http://www.cyberstates.org/.

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The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world's leading technology association, with approximately 2,000 member companies, 3,000 academic and training partners, over 100,000 registered users and more than two million IT certifications issued. CompTIA's unparalleled range of programs foster workforce skills development and generate critical knowledge and insight – building the foundation for technology’s future. Visit CompTIA online, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more. 

Contact:

Preston Grisham
CompTIA
pgrisham@comptia.org
(202) 862-4458

Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
sostrowski@comptia.org
(630) 678-8468