The nation's unemployment rate rose slightly in June to 5.9%, compared with 5.8% in May, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some 3.1 million people have been unemployed for 15 weeks or more. That's 700,000 more than at the beginning of the year and almost twice as many as in June last year.

For unemployed technology workers, hopes of finding jobs are somewhat better than earlier this year, according to Morgan Stanley's Technology Job Index released earlier this month. The index tracks online job postings in enterprise software and consulting. Total postings reached about 55,000, up from 47,000 in January but considerably below the 88,000 jobs posted in May 2001. After adjustments that take into account changes in the way jobs are presented on various sites, the Technology Job Index has risen 28% since January but remains 65% below May 2001 levels. The number of postings dropped only 1% from May to June.

Morgan Stanley's index aside, Beverly Lieberman, president at IT executive-recruiting firm Halbrecht Lieberman Associates Inc., which focuses on high-level executives hasn't seen improvement in the last six months. "We're at rock bottom," she says. "Nobody I talk to is giving me anything definitive about when they'll hire."

IT consultants, especially, face an up-and-down job market. The total number of postings for consultants was 30,500, according to the Morgan Stanley report. That's an improvement over the 20,700 jobs posted in January, but again, well below the 102,100 jobs posted in May of last year. Demand for consultants has been flat since March.

If consulting firms follow Accenture's lead, the yo-yoing may continue. It's reducing head count by 1,000 people, 1% to 2% globally, mostly in its management ranks. But in fiscal 2003, which starts in September, the firm will add about 8,000 outsourcing and entry-level positions. Slow employee attrition has led to a top-heavy company that needs to be reconstructed, says chairman and CEO Joe Forehand. The company also will move workers to high-growth areas such as life sciences and government. The restructuring comes as Accenture reported third-quarter gains last week for the period ended May 31. Net income rose to $114 million, up 8% from the same quarter a year ago. Revenue came in at $2.98 billion up sightly from last year's $2.95 billion.

Morgan Stanley analysts says the results of their study indicate a pause in demand for IT workers that will only be reversed if capital spending increases. David Levy, chairman of the Jerome Levy Forecasting Center, agrees: "Once companies begin to expand their info-tech systems, that's when they'll need more people."