Key assessment metrics of the tech workforce held steady in October, against a backdrop of market distortions caused by weather events and labor strikes, according to CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the tech industry and workforce.

Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals the tech unemployment rate for the month was essentially unchanged at 2.6%. The national unemployment rate at 4.1% was also unchanged.

Tech professions throughout the economy increased by 70,000 in October, to nearly 6.5 million workers in the aggregate.¹ Employer job posting data indicates broad based hiring across software, cybersecurity, support, data and infrastructure. 

Employment within the tech industry sector declined by 4,029 jobs for the month.² Gains in cloud infrastructure and software were not quite enough to offset losses in tech manufacturing, telecommunications and tech services.

"Despite the higher than usual noise in this month's labor market data, there are a number of positives to point to on the tech employment front," said Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. "The data indicates employers continue a balanced approach to hiring across core tech job roles and innovation enabling roles."

The BLS jobs report specifically referenced the recent hurricanes as a factor affecting employment across the Southeast. There are more than 113,000 tech businesses in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee that potentially experienced disruptions affecting hiring.³

U.S. employers listed 528,402 active employer job postings for tech positions last month, including almost 223,000 new listings.⁴Positions for database architects (+10%) and network and computer system administrators (+6%) recorded the biggest percent change increases from September. The highest volumes of job postings were for positions in software development and engineering; IT project management, data analysis, emerging tech and related occupations; data science; and tech support specialists.

On a geographic basis, Washington (16,150), New York City (13,386) and Dallas (10,011) had the most tech job postings among metropolitan areas. San Jose, Baltimore, Austin, Philadelphia and Virginia Beach saw the largest month-over-month increases in postings. At the state level, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania recorded the biggest gains.

The "CompTIA Tech Jobs Report" is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.