Employment within the US IT sector continued to climb during July 2011, new figures show.

According to the TechServe Alliance, hiring within the industry increased month-over-month for the 18th period in a row, rising by 1,800 positions to 4.0536 million.

This is despite the currently challenging global economic climate, the organization notes, adding that there were over 120,000 more IT jobs in the US year-on-year in July 2011.

In addition, a previously-estimated decline of 300 jobs in the sector was revised by the organization for June to a gain of 800 paid positions during the month.

"Both the data and the anecdotal reports of our member companies confirm that demand for IT professionals remains robust with an acute shortage of qualified professionals in certain skill sets," TechServe Alliance chief executive Mark Roberts stated.

A total of 117,000 non-farm jobs were estimated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to have been created during July 2011 in the US, with sectors including healthcare, retail, mining and manufacturing driving up employment.

Posted by Fiona Summers