Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor data, TechAmerica Foundation said that the U.S. high-techology industry shed 115,000 jobs between January and June of 2009, a 1.9 percent decline. The report looks at four sectors: high-tech manufacturing, communications services, software services, and engineering and techical services.

From June 2008 -- when the financial crisis and economic downturn were gaining momentum -- through June 2009, the high-technology sector lost 224,100 jobs, a 3.7 percent workforce decline, according to TechAmerica. Over the same time period the U.S. private sector shed jobs at a higher pace at 5.1 percent.

For the six months between January and June, the losses were the greatest for U.S. high-tech manufacturing employment. Technology manufacturers shed 69,500 net jobs in the first half of 2009, a 5.6 percent loss, leaving a total of 1.2 million tech manufacturing jobs in June. This represented 11.6 percent of total U.S. manufacturing jobs lost over that time period.

Total U.S. high-tech services employment was also down over the previous six months, but not as severely as manufacturing. Technology service providers shed 45,500 net jobs from January to June of 2009, a one percent drop for a total of 4.6 million jobs. The breakdown was: engineering and tech services (minus 21,500), communications services (minus 13,600), and software services (minus 10,400).

While high-tech employment declined by 1.9 percent from January to June 2009, private sector employment held steady with 0.2 percent growth.