High-technology employment in the US stabilized in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to government data.

The Bureau of Statistics disclosed that jobs in the country's ICT industry hit rock bottom in September last year and flattened out in the final three months of 2009.

The agency also unveiled a report from bureau economists in Silicon Valley, which studies the long-term trends in employment witnessed in the region.

Specifically, the study revealed that total employment in Silicon Valley stood at 416,000 in June 2009, which is well below the dot-com peak of 544,000 in 2000.

In addition, the report disclosed that the average annual wage of Silicon Valley workers has declined by close to $20,000 over the last ten years to $105,500 in the first half of 2009.

Amar Mann, economist at the Bureau of Statistics, hopes that the recent stabilization of employment nationally can be replicated in Silicon Valley.

He said: "In the past, Silicon Valley growth has coincided with national growth."

Yesterday (February 2nd), the news agency Reuters predicted that Department of Labor figures due out later this week will reveal that payrolls improved in the US economy in January.