IT job growth in the US started 2018 “essentially flat,” according to the TechServe Alliance, a trade group of IT and engineering staffing and solutions firms. It reported the number of IT jobs in the US edged up by only 0.01% sequentially in February to more than 5.3 million; on a year-over-year basis, the increase was 1.2%.

“Despite a robust economy and very strong demand for talent in many IT skill sets, the rate of IT job growth decelerated throughout 2017,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. “We begin 2018 with the rate of IT job growth essentially flat.”

Roberts added, “This is clearly attributable to the shortage of IT talent in many high-demand skill sets, which is being further exacerbated by restrictive immigration policies and their associated chilling effect.”

Engineering employment increased by 0.23% sequentially in February to almost 2.6 million jobs. The increase was 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.