More evidence of Bernanke money flooding the tech sector.
According to the San Francisco Fed, in January 2013 the Tech Pulse Index grew at an annualized rate of 17.9%. The Tech Pulse Index grew 7.0% over the past 12 months.
This month’s Tech Pulse growth rates are particularly strong because of a higher than normal increase in private fixed investment, especially in computer and peripheral equipment.
This month’s Tech Pulse growth rates are particularly strong because of a higher than normal increase in private fixed investment, especially in computer and peripheral equipment.
The Tech Pulse Index is an index of coincident indicators of activity in the U.S. information technology sector. It can be interpreted as a summary statistic that tracks the health of the tech sector in a timely manner. The indicators used to compute the index are investment in IT goods, consumption of personal computers and software, employment in the IT sector, as well as industrial production of and shipments by the technology sector.
Tech Pulse Index and Underlying Indicators.
| 12 month growth rate | Monthly growth rates, annualized | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicator | latest | Nov-12 | Dec-12 | Jan-13 |
| Tech Pulse | 7.0% | 19.6% | 19.4% | 17.9% |
| Industrial Production | -2.0% | 3.0% | 4.3% | |
| Shipments | 1.8% | -6.4% | 46.9% | |
| Employment | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 3.6% |
| PCE | 18.7% | 39.2% | 8.7% | |
| PCE deflator | -8.0% | -2.4% | -7.6% | |
| 4 quarter growth rate | Quarterly growth rates, annualized | |||
| latest | 2012Q3 | 2012Q4 | 2013Q1 | |
| Private fixed investment (PFI) | 5.3% | 3.2% | 16.3% | |
| PFI deflator | -1.1% | -1.4% | -1.8% | |
I own a tech company that designs and implements workflow and productivity tools and I can attest to the fact that business is booming. What I am seeing is the incredible push by enterprises to stream line and invest in technology that eliminates the need for additional labor or even reduces it (we call it re-purposed). It seems the new push is to do the same thing with less. And if you think I am talking about traditional working class jobs, I am not. I am seeing corps eliminating or not filling high paying middle and upper middle management jobs. My guess is that as labor becomes more and more expensive and the global economy more tenuous, businesses are trying to automate everything they can.
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