The number of IT jobs grew 0.03% sequentially last month to 5,325,300 according to TechServe Alliance, the national trade association of the IT & Engineering Staffing and Solutions industry. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment grew by 1.54% since December 2016 adding 80,900 IT workers.

Engineering employment increased by 0.07 percent sequentially to 2,583,100. On a year-over-year basis, growth in engineering employment increased by 1.50% since December 2016 or 38,200 engineering workers.

"Throughout 2017, we saw a steadily declining rate of growth in IT jobs. Notably, December's IT job growth was barely perceptible effectively slowing to a trickle," stated Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. "While demand for highly skilled IT professionals remains strong, the tight supply of IT talent caused in part by restrictive immigration policies and its associated chilling effect is limiting the growth potential of the U.S. IT workforce," added Roberts.