IT employment decreased in October from September after years of continuous month-over-month growth, the TechServe Alliance announced. The number of IT jobs in the US edged down 0.02% to a total of approximately 5.34 million, according to the group, which serves as the national trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solution industry.

“Following the continuous deceleration of the rate of growth throughout 2018, IT employment actually declined in October,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. “We are entering a new era where supply is insufficient to support demand inhibiting growth. The current administration’s restrictive immigration policies only accelerate this trend.”

However, on a year-over-year basis, IT employment was still up by 0.35% in October with 18,400 more IT workers than the previous year.

The TechServe Alliance also measures engineering employment, which edged up by 0.23% in October from September. Engineering employment rose 2.39% on a year-over-year basis, an increase of 61,000 engineering workers.