IT employment in the US again posted no growth in September from August, the TechServe Alliance announced. After coming to a full stop in August, the number of IT jobs in the US held at a total of more than 5.3 million, according to the group, which serves as the national trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solution industry.

“While two consecutive months with no growth does not establish a long-term trend, the deceleration in the rate of growth in IT employment for more than a year is reflective of a challenging environment,” TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts said. “With strong demand and a limited talent pool in many IT skill sets, this supply-side phenomenon is restricting domestic growth and pushing projects offshore.”

However, on a year-over-year basis, IT employment was still up by 0.46% in September with 24,200 more IT workers than the previous year.

The TechServe Alliance also measures engineering employment, which edged up by 0.14% in September from August. Engineering employment rose 2.27% on a year-over-year basis, an increase of 58,100 engineering workers.