In 2001, the tech industry employed 6.5 million people. Then the bubble burst, and payrolls shrank dramatically.

That year remains the tech industry’s employment high-water mark — and it will take another 200,000 jobs to equal it.

Tech industry employment reached 6.3 million in the first half of this year, a gain of 118,800 jobs, up 1.9% compared to the first half of 2013. That’s below the 3.7% growth rate overall for private-sector employers, according to new data from TechAmerica Foundation. The weaker rate of growth is an anomaly for the industry.

“The tech industry often experiences a better employment situation than the private sector,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of technology industry trade group CompTIA, which acquired TechAmerica earlier this year. TechAmerica has been reporting on industry employment since well before the days of the dot-com bubble.

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