The number of engineering jobs in the US edged up by 0.14% in February from January, reflecting an increase of 3,800 engineering workers, according to an analysis by the TechServe Alliance, a trade association representing the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry. On a year-over-year basis, the number of IT jobs was up 3.49% in February, or 93,600 jobs.

The fourth-quarter unemployment rate for engineering employment remained at 2.2%. 

However, the number of IT jobs in the US continued to decline in February despite the unemployment rate remaining low. IT employment in the US fell by 0.12% in February from January, even as the employment rate stood at 2.1% in the fourth quarter.

On a year-over-year basis, the number of IT jobs was down 1.59% in February, or 87,000 jobs.

“In the aggregate, US IT employment continued to decline, reflecting softer demand in some sectors of the economy,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. “In particular, tech companies are retrenching after over-hiring during the height of the pandemic and its immediate aftermath.”

However, Roberts noted the actual employment of individuals does not happen in the aggregate.

“Many companies in a range of sectors continue to have difficulty hiring for high-demand IT skill sets,” he said. “With a historically low IT unemployment rate of 2.1% in Q4 and with hundreds of thousands of open positions, the IT employment landscape does not fit a single narrative.”