The US had 3,100 fewer IT jobs in December 2023 than November, according to an analysis by TechServe Alliance. But the organization said there’s more to the story.

“As we begin a new year, the IT employment landscape is not easily distilled to a single narrative,” Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance, said in a press statement. “While demand for IT professionals remains soft in some sectors, other areas of the economy are ramping up.”

Tech talent continues to be constrained in high-demand skill sets such as cybersecurity, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, Roberts said. And the IT unemployment rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter is still considered to be “full employment,” though it’s higher than the 1.9% in the third quarter.

“While some of the fog has lifted around the prospects for the economy in 2024 and buoyed optimism, I believe demand for IT talent is going to continue to range widely based on region, industry and even between companies in the same sector.”

Overall, the US had approximately 5.3 million IT jobs in December. While down from November, the total was also down 90,000 jobs from December 2022.

On the other hand, TechServe Alliance also reported engineering employment rose by 5,100 jobs in December 2023 compared to November for a total of more than 2.8 million jobs. On a year-over-year basis, the US added 48,700 engineering jobs.