The number of U.S. tech jobs jumped 140,000 between January and June, a 2.5% rise, for a total of 5.81 million. This is nearly double the 78,900 tech jobs added in the first half of 2005 and the strongest job growth of any six-month period since 2001, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the technology trade association AeA.

January to June tech-job growth lags that of the private sector overall, which rose by 3.5% in the same period.

Technology manufacturers added 33,100 net jobs in the United States in the first half of 2006, for a total of 1.37 million jobs, a 2.5% increase, the second consecutive year that high-tech manufacturing is seeing net job growth.

The report also highlights that the high-tech services sectors (communication, software, engineering, tech services) added 107,000 net jobs over the same time-period for a total of 4.44 million jobs, a 2.5% rise. The communications services sector saw its first net job growth since 2000, up 12,700 jobs, or 0.9%, from January to June.