As economy dips, tech jobs stutter—but market is strong overall

Unemployment in the tech sector increased slightly in August, but overall numbers remain strong in the industry.

That’s according to the latest numbers from CompTIA. The nonprofit trade association’s assessment of the tech labor market over the last month—using Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers—found that 189,000 tech jobs were cut in August.

For people out of work, it wasn’t all bad news. Employers were still seeking to fill 208,000 tech positions, an increase of 12,643 from July’s 204,400.

Nonetheless, unemployment in the sector increased to 2.1% from July’s 1.8%; the latter, as IT Brew reported, was the lowest tech unemployment number since January. The increase mirrored the broader economic news, as national unemployment bumped up slightly to 3.8% overall.

Employers are looking for information security analysts; postings for those positions grew 19% from July to August. According to CompTIA’s analysis, employers are also still looking to hire “software developers, tech support specialists, computer systems analysts, and data scientists.”

The tech sector is healthy and expects to continue to see added investment through the end of the year, according to an August 31 analysis from Wedbush Securities. In the report, analysts cite the increase in overall investment in AI technology as a driver in the industry’s growth. The report notes that AI giant Nvidia’s late August guidance and earnings offer a path forward that “speaks to a tidal wave of AI driven spending on the horizon for the tech sector over the coming years.”

AI is one factor behind an increase in job postings in emerging technologies, which made up 23% of the total August tech positions available. CompTIA’s analysis found that California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Virginia led the pack in emerging tech postings. In cities, tech job postings were highest in Denver, Washington, Phoenix, Tampa, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.