In looking over the March unemployment figures, we see this:

• Professional and technical services: -12,500
• Telecommunications: -3,800
• Data Processing: -2,300
• Computer systems design and related services: -5,800

That's just one month. Believe this or not, a host of lobbyists are out there claiming there is a tech worker shortage.

In Recession Doesn't Stop Tech Offshore Outsourcing, Alan Tonelson lists some recent statistics, which show while the U.S. has the worst employment rates since the Great Depression, companies are busy offshore outsourcing more jobs.

U.S. LABOR FORCE TRENDS

U.S. total imports, Jan.-June, 2009: -26.17%

U.S. imports of Other Private Services,* Jan.-June, 2009: +1.03%

U.S. total imports, June, 2008-June, 2009: -55.12%

U.S. imports of Other Private Services, June, 2008-June, 2009: +0.75%

Unemployment rate for U.S. software engineers, 2d Quarter, 2009: 5.0 %

Unemployment rate for U.S. computer scientists and systems analysts, 2d Quarter, 2009: 6.4%

Unemployment rate for U.S. electrical engineers, 2d Quarter, 2009: 8.6%

Services means I.T., offshore outsourcing, now read as imports, work being done offshore.

Hey, how about that shortage? Remember, the unemployment or employment numbers count foreign guest workers which skews the numbers.

The IEEE-USA reports a 8.6% unemployment rate, a record.

The unemployment rate for electrical engineers reached 8.6% in the second quarter of this year, a record-setting number and double the unemployment rate for the group in the first quarter, according to the IEEE-USA.