WASHINGTON — An industry group reported Tuesday (Oct. 14) that unemployment among U.S. engineers rose 0.3 percent in the third quarter to 6.7 percent.
According to government statistics highlighted by IEEE-USA, unemployment among electrical and electronics engineers rose over the previous quarter despite an overall decline in U.S. unemployment.
The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that the number of employed EEs fell by 37,000 in the third quarter to 349,000.
IEEE-USA blamed continuing employment woes for engineers on a steady stream of foreign workers who the group said "continue to flood the job market."
"We're pleased that Congress allowed the annual H-1B cap to drop to 65,000 earlier this month, but U.S. EEs are still competing for scarce jobs in an artificially saturated labor market," IEEE-USA President-Elect John Steadman said in a statement.
"In addition, demand is shrinking as high-tech jobs areoutsourced overseas," Steadman added. "Despite the bleak employment outlook, some H-1B proponents are still calling on Congress to increase the number of visa exemptions."
Hardest hit job categories included computer hardware and software engineers along with network administrators, IEEE-USA said.
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