The number of IT jobs in the US declined in January, though the unemployment rate remained low, according to an analysis by the TechServe Alliance, a trade association representing the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry.

IT employment fell 0.22% month over month in January despite an unemployment rate in IT of only 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022. On a year-over-year basis, employment was down 1.46% from December 2021, or 79,700 jobs.

“While we all like to distill data to a simple narrative, the reality is often more complicated,” said Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. “As a national data point, we see a modest decline in overall IT employment when unemployment in IT occupations remains at historically low levels (2.1% as of Q4) with hundreds of thousands open IT positions.”

Roberts noted the decline reflects the labor market churn that includes tech layoffs and a greater reluctance to add to direct headcount in some areas of the country and some sectors.

“There remains a shortage of talent in many IT skill sets, and strong demand persists in other parts of the economy,” he said. “The IT employment landscape is not monolithic. While we see a pullback among tech giants due to overhiring during the last few years, many IT positions go unfilled at other companies.”

Robert remains optimistic despite headwinds in some quarters and said IT staffing appears poised to continue to grow throughout 2023.

The TechServe Alliance also reported engineering sector showed a year-over-year job growth rate of 3.59% with the addition of 96,200 jobs, with an unemployment rate of 2.2% in the fourth quarter.