TechNet sponsored a study to show the growth of what they call the “app economy.” There are now 466,000 jobs in the area of creating apps for smart devices. That’s a huge number for an industry that’s only 5-years-old.

The study was conducted by Dr. Michael Mandel of South Mountain Economics. He found that jobs in app development were spreading throughout the nation. The top metro area for app jobs is New York City, while California is the top state for app jobs. While California and New York make up a large portion of app development, two-thirds of all app jobs are outside of those two states. The study also suggests the app economy is growing quickly and the number of app-related jobs are expected to increase exponentially in the coming years.

“America’s App Economy – which had zero jobs just 5 years ago before the iPhone was introduced – demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation,” Rey Ramsey, President and CEO of TechNet, said. “Today, the App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers today and even more in the years to come.”

The full study, which can be found here, has some more interesting details on the growth of this new sector. The key platforms in app development are revealed to be Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Facebook and Windows Phone.

The study goes on to say that the app is the new front door for consumer-focused companies. It allows them to directly interact with consumers in a way that was never imaginable before.

An interesting detail in the section “Sizing the App Economy,” it’s revealed that all third-party app developers for Facebook have created 182,744 full-time jobs in the U.S. alone.

App developers employ the second largest number of people in the IT sector. They are only behind custom computer programming which employed over 600,000 people as of November 2011.

The overall growth of the app market has been strong with job ads looking for app developers increasing by 45 percent in the past year.

This app economy continues to grow and will be a viable economy as long as wireless and social networking platforms grow.

New research reveals that 41 percent of students do not feel well-informed about the range of careers open to them. Only 13 percent feel their education institutions have fully equipped them to make career decisions. CompTIA surveyed more than 1,000 students to understand what motivates them.

The vast majority of respondents showed themselves to have skills employers want. They are hard working (89 percent), quick learners (79 percent), good at solving problems (76 percent), have communication skills (71 percent) and are able to work in a team (78 percent). Furthermore, most students are ambitious with a clear idea of what they expect from their future professions. A good salary (85 percent), variety (66 percent) and ongoing development (62 percent) are the most important considerations.

Respondents in the CompTIA survey want schools and universities to do a lot more to help them understand career options:

• 55 percent want information integrated into school lessons about what careers different subjects can lead to

• 61 percent feel they need more information about careers other than those directly related to their field of study

• 51 percent want better careers advice at school or university.

This trend is particularly notable in IT and technology, which is struggling to attract the 110,400 new entrants a year it needs to keep up with the industry’s growth.

According to Kevin Streater, executive director for IT Intelligence at the Open University:

“For far too long there has been a false assumption that IT is too technical for most people to get into. The reality is that anyone who is educated, motivated and passionate about technology should consider a career in the industry. At its core, it is very much a career where you can keep learning, keep developing and keep your hands on technology. Contrary to popular opinion there are plenty of unfilled vacancies for young people, and plenty of young people with exactly the right aptitude and ambitions to fill them. The problem is largely one of making young people aware of these opportunities and how to get into them.”

This infographic from HireRabbit details everything a company needs to do to build their brand in social networking to attract fresh talent. It also gives us some great statistics into how social media has impacted the job hunting and employment process.

Just remember to keep your Facebook profile clean and share interesting information with your followers. Those are the best ways to build your brand.

Cary Leahey, managing director at Decision Economics comments on the anomaly:

“The overall economy lacks oomph and is having trouble creating jobs. Manufacturing is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing story.”

Equalizing costs are not the only reason for the resurgence in interest. Even though manufacturing is currently only growing slightly faster than the whole of the economy, experts believe that the years following the current economic depression will represent a renaissance era for high-tech and innovation based production efforts.

From aeronautics to robots, high-speed cotton mills, and 3-D model making, this growth will be about change and transformation from what we have done in the past.

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief at Wired remarks about the upcoming transformations in manufacturing:

“Change is good, and disruption is the ultimate change.”

“We are democratizating the tools of production now…if done right, we can power manufacturing in the 21st century.”

Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida adds:

“We’re not firing on all cylinders yet, but we are still moving down the road”

Analyst are watching the Federal Reserve closely and hoping there is still room for more economic stimulus. I know the government currently offers incentives to companies that pursue innovation-based solution to grow their businesses. Hopefully these manufacturing trends will continue as the year progresses and we can move one step closer to realizing a renaissance in American manufacturing.

“Well Jennifer, I don’t know your husband’s specialty, but I can tell you that there’s a huge demand around the country for engineers, demand is especially high for specialized engineers in the high-tech industry.”

He continued:

“If your husband’s in that field, then we should get his resume and I’ll forward it to some of these companies that are telling me they can’t find enough engineers”

After that he stated that he insisted that she send him her husbands resume` stating that:

“I meant what I said.”

Weddel commented saying:

“I appreciate your response Mr. President, I’ll have to take you up on that.”

After finishing a point about immigration reform, Obama went into a bit about innovation and entrepreneurs. He said that the country should get behind everyone out there trying to become the next Steve Jobs. Here’s the full segment, for context:

You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who’s willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.

After all, innovation is what America has always been about. Most new jobs are created in startups and small businesses, so let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing they need to grow. Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs. Both parties agree on these ideas – so put them in a bill and get it on my desk this year

During this shoutout, the camera remained fixed on Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve’s widow. She was one of the handful of guests invited personally by First Lady Michelle Obama to join her in the balcony. Check out the moment below (video will start at the relevant segment).

These figures are significant when you consider overall job growth for the country was well under 1%. The report also predicts that IT job expansion in 2012 will overtake 2008 as its all-time-high growth year.

[Source: TechServe Alliance]

The doll, which became available for pre-order from In Icons’ website on Tuesday, costs $99 and is set to release in late February – most likely the 24th, Jobs’ birthday, but that has not been confirmed. The action figure comes with two sets of glasses and three pairs of interchangeable hands, as well as Jobs’ trademark turtleneck, blue jeans, and sneakers. It also includes a “One More Thing” backdrop, a reference to Jobs’ famed tendency to mask announcements of some of Apple’s more remarkable products at the end of his keynote addresses.

Given that the doll was not authorized by either the Jobs estate or Apple, I predicted on Tuesday that it would likely never see release. It looks like that will turn out to be the case. However, an eBay seller in Hong Kong already has some of the figures for sale. The item listing claims that 26 have been sold and three remain available, which can be purchased for $135 (plus $28 shipping) and claims that buyers can expect delivery sometime between January 26th and February 8th. So if you want one of these things desperately enough to pay $163 for it, then head on over and get it while you can.

[Source: The Telegraph]

Here are some images of the figure, which is incredibly realistic – bordering on too realistic, if you ask me:

What do you think? Coolest thing ever, or creepiest? Let us know in the comments.

“More than 800 million people around the world rely on Facebook, and more than half of them visit every day. Operating at such a large scale, and innovating as quickly as we do, we need to recruit the most talented engineers in the world,” said Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s Vice President of Engineering. “New York has a strong history of innovation and is home to thousands of talented technical people, and we want them to help us solve the challenges of designing and building the next generation of Facebook.”

Facebook Engineering NYC“Building an engineering presence outside the West Coast is a big step for us, one we would take only if we found the right combination of talent and community support. We’re particularly grateful for the encouragement and assistance of New York’s elected leaders, who understand what it takes to build a climate where technology can fuel economic growth and the creation of high skilled jobs.” — Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer 1 hour ago · 3 likes · 0 comments

Facebook is putting Serkan Piantino at the helm, an engineer who has been with the company since 2007. Piantino led the team that was behind Facebook’s news feed and its upcoming Timeline feature.

It appears that the New York political muscle is thrilled with the plan, as Senator Chuck Schumer praised the decision as one that will “help to continue fueling innovation in the greatest city in the world.” New York’s other Senator Kirsten Gillibrand thinks that Facebook’s new presence will “help position New York City to lead in the high-tech economy of the future.”

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg also praised the move:

Facebook is capitalizing on what more and more tech companies are realizing: that New York City is the best place in the world to recruit and retain a talented workforce The growth in the tech sector is creating jobs and further diversifying our economy. That’s why we are invested in expanding our engineering workforce by building a new applied sciences school in the city. We want to do everything we can to make sure that Facebook can grow here, and that the next Facebook will be founded here.

The new office will open up in the early part of 2012, but Facebook is already accepting applications. Their New York careers page already lists openings for software engineers in the fields of ads, data infrastructure, tools, and web performance.

In October, Twitter opened a brand new office right in the middle of Madison Avenue. That move was also praised by Bloomberg and Gillibrand as the right move in growing NYC’s technology sector.