Tech unemployment ticks up slightly in volatile economy

According to CompTIA’s analysis of numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tech unemployment ticked up to 3% from July’s 2.9% (and June’s 2.8%). Total jobs in the sector declined and postings fell precipitously.

It’s a situation that has challenges, but is “not all doom and gloom,” CompTIA Chief Research Officer Tim Herbert said in a statement.

“Hiring intent data continues to show employers pursuing tech talent across a range of disciplines, from AI and data science to tech support and cloud engineering,” Herbert said.

Run the numbers. Tech jobs in the sector fell by a net total of 2,311 positions, driven in part by losses of 3,300 in IT and custom software services and system design, 2,100 in PC, semiconductor, and components manufacturing, and 700 in telecommunications. That was partially offset by gains of 2,900 in information services, search, and platforms, and a bump of 100 positions in cloud infrastructure, data processing, and hosting.

Job postings, on the other hand, were almost universally down. CompTIA found drops of 6,322 postings for software developers and engineers, 2,181 for systems engineers, 2,077 for tech support specialists, 1,752 for network engineers and architects, and 1,724 for cybersecurity engineers and analysts.

Top metro areas all saw declines in total postings. For Washington DC, postings dropped by 98, New York by 514, Dallas by 192, Chicago by 266, and Boston by 312.

Geographic. There were also large declines in the top states. The top five for total postings saw contracting numbers. California went down by 764, Texas by 1,968, Virginia by 2,600, New York by 2,235, and Florida by 1,224.

The top states with the best job postings numbers had double-digit gains, with Maine increasing postings by 97, Delaware by 32, and Idaho by 19. Positions four and five were held by states with only small losses: Vermont with a loss of 27 and New Hampshire with a loss of 33.