US IT and engineering job growth decelerated in September after a modest uptick in August, according to the TechServe Alliance, a national trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry.

“Despite the deceleration in the rate of growth, both IT and engineering outperformed the overall labor market which actually contracted for the first time in seven years in light of the hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida," said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts.

“Given the weather events had an adverse impact on two states that are economic powerhouses, I think the deceleration in the rate of growth is no cause for alarm,” Roberts said. “We fully expect employment to rebound in these areas in the coming months.”

The number of IT jobs in the US edged up 0.1% in September from August to more than 5.3 million, according to the TechServe Alliance. Year over year, IT employment in the US rose by 2.3% in September, adding 121,100 IT jobs.

Engineering employment growth also edged up 0.1% in September from August to almost 2.6 million jobs. Year over year, the increase was 1.9%, representing 32,900 engineering jobs.