IT and engineering job growth strengthened in August, according to the TechServe Alliance, a national trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry.

“Reversing a recent downward trend line, the rate of both IT and engineering job growth increased in August,” TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts said. “This is particularly impressive against a backdrop of more anemic job growth in the overall labor market. While a single month does not establish a trend, I am encouraged by improvement in the IT and engineering employment picture.”

The number of IT jobs in the US edged up 0.1% in August from July to more than 5.3 million, according to the TechServe Alliance. Year over year, IT employment in the US rose by 2.6% in August, adding 135,900 IT jobs.

Engineering employment growth edged up 0.2% in August from July to almost 2.6 million jobs. Year over year, the increase was 1.5%, representing 37,500 engineering jobs.