Job growth momentum in the U.S. information technology sector stalled in April, as employment fell by an estimated 3,000 positions, according to the "CompTIA IT Employment Tracker" released by the world's leading technology association.

April job losses in telecommunications (down 5,300 positions) and computer and electronic products manufacturing (down 1,700) offset gains in other employment categories, CompTIA's analysis of today's Bureau of Labor Statistics "Employment Situation" (#JobsReport) reveals.

IT services and customer software design paced the categories with April job growth with the addition of 2,600 positions. Other information services, including service portals (+ 800) and data processing, hosting and related services (+ 600) also recorded job gains last month.

For the year IT sector job growth remains in positive territory, up an estimated 49,000 positions to approximately 4.4 million workers. The IT services and software category has been the strongest performer in 2017, adding 84,200 jobs. The biggest decline has occurred in telecommunications, 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 these segments of workers."

The second component of the nation's IT workforce – IT occupations in all other industries – grew by an estimated 90,000 jobs in April, reversing three months of declines.

Job postings for core IT positions were essentially flat in April. Software developers remain the occupation with the most activity.