CompTIA: US Tech Sector Posts Job Gains in February

Despite generally weak hiring across much of the economy, the U.S. tech sector added an estimated 7,500 new jobs in February, according to an analysis by CompTIA, a suburban Chicago-based industry association.

Based on the association’s analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, four of the tech sector’s five employment categories ended February in positive territory. New hiring in technology services, custom software development and computer systems design led the way in February expanding by an estimated 3,300 new hires.

Computer, electronic, and semiconductor products manufacturing employment increased by an estimated 2,500 positions, with more than half of the total (1,300 positions) in the sub-category of computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing. February also saw job gains in data processing, hosting and related services (+ 2,400), including search portals (+ 1,600). Employment in the telecommunications market was down an estimated 2,300 jobs last month, the fourth straight month of job losses.

“Tech employment continues to trend upward,” said Tim Herbert, senior vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA. “Beyond broad-based demand for core technical positions, job posting data indicates emerging tech roles are starting to make a meaningful contribution to tech employment gains,”

The unemployment rate for IT occupations stood as 2.3 percent in February, compared to 2.5 percent in February 2018. The U.S. unemployment rate declined by one-fifth of a point to 3.8 percent in February.

On the future hiring front, the number of employer job postings for core IT skills declined by nearly 40,000 positions from January to February. Software and application developers, computer user support specialists and computer systems engineers and architects held the top three positions.

Channel Impact^®
While industry hiring outpaces much of the economy, the decline in job postings signals a potential softening for the near future.