Job growth in the U.S. technology sector stalled in April as employment fell by an estimated 3,000 positions, but there was a slight increase in hiring in data processing, IT services and software engineering.
Those are among the finding of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which examines job creation or losses across the entire workforce. Each month after the BLS releases its job numbers, industry association CompTIA publishes its IT Employment Tracker, which focuses on the technology portion of the workforce.
According to the latest numbers, employers added 600-plus data processing jobs in April. But the real winners were the IT services and software design categories, which accounted for 2,600 new positions.
IT services and software design have remained the strongest performers for the past 12 months, with 84,200 new jobs added. The biggest decline has been in the telecommunications sector, which has lost 28,200 jobs so far this year.
“Despite the sluggish IT sector job growth over the past three months, conditions remain favorable for employment gains over the long term,” said Tim Herbert, senior vice president of research and market intelligence at CompTIA. “Industries across the U.S. economy continue to increase their reliance on technology and digital services, which bodes well for employment gains among those segments of workers.”
