IT employment in the US was roughly flat in November, with the number of IT jobs falling by just 2,700 when compared to October for total IT employment at nearly 5.3 million, the TechServe Alliance reported Dec. 11.

The decrease in IT jobs represents a decline of just 0.05%.

“The overall US job market posted strong gains in November, but IT employment remained effectively flat,” TechServe CEO Mark Roberts said in a press release.

Roberts noted that technology leaders delayed hiring decisions throughout the year due to economic, political and geopolitical uncertainties.

The number of IT jobs was also down year over year by 15,900, a 0.3% decline.

“While IT hiring overall has not yet accelerated, critical IT domains such as AI and machine learning as well as security and cybersecurity continue to remain strong,” Roberts said. “With the US graduating just over 100,000 computer science graduates annually and anticipating downward pressure on high-skilled immigration in the coming years, there will be a long-term shortage of talent, as the growth rate for computer and mathematical occupations is projected to be more than twice the national average for all occupations over the next 10 years.”

He continued, “Consequently, we believe that despite the moderating labor pressure on employers in the short term, long-term demand for IT skills will continue to outpace supply.”

On the other hand, the TechServe Alliance reported that engineering employment rose by 5,700 jobs in November, a 0.2% increase, for total employment of more than 2.8 million.

 Year over year, engineering employment grew 0.65%, adding 18,400 workers.