Semiconductor chip sales rise slightly for the first quarter

March sales were also up slightly from a year ago.

Just shy of a record, chip sales dip 3 percent in 2012 to $291.6B

Industry fell just shy of $300 billion goal

U.S. semiconductor chip industry employs 244,800 workers

The larger high-tech industry employs 6 million people.

With just 0.4 percent growth, the chip industry reaches record $299.5B in 2011

The chip industry grew a scant 0.4 percent in 2011, but that was enough to push it to a record $299.5 billion for the year. That wasn’t a bad performance given a weak global economy and disasters in Japan and …