Tech Jobs in Texas Grew at Record Rate of 6% in First Half of 2014

Texas was the U.S. state that created the largest number of technology jobs  in the first half of this year, according to a report from American online job board Dice.com.  Adjacent to Mexico and home to a large Hispanic population, Texas’ total number of tech workers has risen to 143,300.

According to the report, Texas added as many as 8,100 positions in the first six months of the year, with a large number of companies in the mobile, big data and software development sectors offering jobs in cities such as Dallas, Austin and Houston.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics covering computer systems design and related services, Texas is home to the second-largest tech workforce in the United States after California.

Florida, which has created a huge technology workforce in recent years, was found to have created nearly as many tech jobs (4,100) in the the first six months of 2014 as it did in all of last year (4,500). Tech hiring and availability of professionals has become a campaign issue during the gubernatorial election.

Tech job growth in Missouri has slowed down significantly, with the career site ranking the state in the 10th slot. This ranking has surprised analysts, because Missouri had been the fastest growing state in terms of tech jobs for two years in succession.

The web portal said Missouri’s technology market expansion has continued, albeit slowly, adding that the rankings were based on the rate of job growth and the new positions added.

Tech jobs grew at a rate of 3.57% in Oregon and 3.53% in Washington, while the growth rate in New York stood at 3.08%. The number of tech jobs in North Carolina grew at nearly four percent, the third highest rate in the nation.