Abstract
Since the mid-1970s, New England's employment growth rate has matched the nation's, despite the region's substantially slower population growth. Strong gains in the manufacturing sector accounted for the surprising performance. The high-technology industries have been the fastest growing among the manufacturers, involving such industries as computers, electronics, and various forms of instrumentation. However, an overlooked source of new employment is the service industries, particularly those in business service employment. In New England, business service has not only surpassed the employment growth rate nationally, but also that of most high-tech manufacturing industries. Business service employment, of which computer and data processing services are a part, is benefiting greatly from the increasing accessibility to computers. By the end of 1982, computer services employed roughly 2% of the total service workforce, a substantial number when the diversity of the US industrial base is considered.