IT job growth decelerated in the US amid a tighter labor supply, the TechServe Alliance reported Thursday. The number of IT jobs rose just 0.1% in October from September to more than 5.3 million, according to the organization. Year over year, the number of jobs was up 2.1%.

“Following a trend that has been in place for some time, the rate of IT job growth fell to its lowest level in years,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. “Given that demand remains strong for IT professionals in high-demand skill sets, this ongoing deceleration is attributable to an ever-tightening labor supply.”

Roberts continued, “the current administration's restrictive immigration policies affecting highly skilled foreign nationals is making the job of finding qualified IT professionals even more difficult. These policies are contributing to the decline in the rate of IT job growth in the US.”

Engineering employment growth also edged up 0.1% in October from September, to almost 2.6 million jobs. Year over year, the increase was 1.4%.