November tech jobs report shows steady numbers, marginal difference from October

Steady as she goes.

That was the message from the tech sector economy as employment in the industry stayed stable while overall jobs numbers increased.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Dec. 6 showed an increase of 227,000 jobs in the total economy in November. While the national unemployment rate bumped up to 4.2%, that likely means the Fed will lower rates later this month—and boost the economy, Ellen Zentner, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management chief economic strategist, told CNBC.

“A further increase in the unemployment rate tempers some of the shine in the labor market and gives the Fed what it needs to cut rates in December,” Zentner said.

Rack ’em. In the tech sector, however, numbers remained virtually unchanged. A CompTIA analysis of the tech jobs data showed a 1,636 decline in positions, a change of 0% in an industry with 5.6 million jobs. In the broader economy, tech professions dropped by a total of 6,000 in a pool of 6.5 million workers.

Tech sector employment increased by between 1,000 and 1,200 jobs in the following subsectors: telecommunications; cloud infrastructure, data processing, and hosting; other information services, search, and platforms; and IT and custom software services. Conversely, PC, semiconductor, and components manufacturing dropped by 4,000 positions. Tim Herbert, CompTIA chief research officer, said in a statement accompanying the report that the numbers shouldn’t be taken as a sign of industry weakness.

“While a flat month in the aggregate as some employers take a breather, the data continues to highlight the diversity of hiring activity across the tech workforce,” Herbert said. “Across industry sectors, metro areas, and company sizes, harnessing tech talent remains a top priority.”

Tech job postings fell by 42,000 from October to a still-healthy over 475,000. Despite drops, California, Texas, Virginia, New York, and Florida were the top states with postings, and Washington, DC, New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Seattle the top metros. Professional, scientific, and technical services, administrative and support services, finance and insurance, manufacturing, and information were the top five industries posting open roles.