The growth of information workers in the U.S. economy

The growth information workers in the US economy during the postwar period and a statistical analysis on the sources of growth are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the post-1980 period which experienced tremendous growth in the use of computers in production, being termed as a new 'techno-economic paradigm' based on computer-driven information technology. The occupation of the workers are aggregated into knowledge production, data processing, services and good production. Knowledge workers grew as a share of total employment in each of the five decades and were the fastest-growing group in all but the 1950's. The information explosion is a result of both the substitution of information labor within production and changes in the composition of output. It is likely that outsourcing trend will continue and that the rate of growth in jobs for knowledge workers in the US will be reduced in future.