California still Golden in tech job creation

That's the conclusion of a report due out next week from job search service NimbleCat. NimbleCat's research on new software and IT jobs posted to major Internet job boards found that California's share dipped slightly from 29.7 percent in July to 29 percent. No other state accounted for more than 10 percent of the new tech jobs online in August, according to NimbleCat.

Texas ranked second in August with 6 percent and New York came in third with 5.8 percent. New Jersey had held the third-place spot in July with 5.8 percent of new tech jobs online, but its share slipped to 5.5 percent in August, according to NimbleCat.

Over the past year, New Jersey's share has fallen from 6.8 percent, while Texas' has slipped from 6.5 percent and New York's has dipped from 6.6 percent. California's share has grown from 26.3 percent in August of 2004.

It's not clear how good the news is for tech workers in New York, California or elsewhere. NimbleCat's report does not provide statistics on the absolute numbers of new jobs. There have been indications that better times for Silicon Valley tech companies and a resurgent start-up scene aren't necessarily translating into a big wave of hiring.

The overall job market for tech professionals has been a mixed bag for some time. A study released on Thursday found that chief information officers plan to increase their hiring in the last three months of the year. The U.S. economy has been generating tech manufacturing and services jobs. What's more, a report from earlier this year indicated that the U.S. tech industry may have turned a corner last year when it comes to employment woes.

And the parent company of job board Monster reported an uptick from July to August in its measurement of employer online recruitment activity for computer and mathematical jobs.

But not all developments in the employment market for techies have been sunny. A survey from staffing firm Hudson found that tech worker confidence in the job market dropped sharply in August, thanks partly to job loss fears. A recent study from a labor organization indicated that tech workers in America are feeling less hopeful about the future of their profession than they were two years ago.

In addition, tech-sector downsizing for the first half of 2005 far exceeded industry job cuts during the first half of last year. Computer professionals face the threat of increased automation and the prospect of their jobs being shifted offshore.

NimbleCat said that in August, the Long Beach, Calif., metropolitan area accounted for 6.5 percent of the new tech jobs it tracks, making it the top job-creating region.