The unemployment rate for technology occupations fell to a near-record low, tech companies added workers for the 16^th consecutive month and employer job postings for tech positions surpassed 400,000 in March, according to an analysis of the latest labor market data by CompTIA, the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.

The solid employment numbers tracked in the latest "CompTIA Tech Jobs Report" contributed to the strong national employment story. Employers added 431,000 jobs, according to today's "Employment Situation" report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Employer job postings for core technology occupations hit 412,000 in March, an increase of more than 29,000 postings from February and the first time the monthly count has surpassed 400,000.¹

"The already tight labor market just became even tighter as competition for tech talent reaches near-record levels," said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. "For any employer relying on the old hiring playbook, it's time to rethink approaches to recruiting and retention."

IT occupations across the U.S. economy increased by 19,000 in March. The unemployment rate for tech occupations is 1.3%, its lowest level since June 2019 and about one-third of the current national unemployment rate (3.6%).

Within the tech sector new hiring in the IT services and custom software development occupations category (+12,300) accounted for better than two-thirds of all jobs added by tech companies in March. Other information services, including search engines, also recorded a solid month of jobs growth (+6,300). Those two categories more than offset losses in data processing, hosting and related services, telecommunications and computer and electronic products manufacturing.

Employer job postings show that the search for tech talent is widespread across industries and geographies. Companies in professional, scientific and technical services (70,377), manufacturing (52,007) and finance and insurance (49,587) had the most tech jobs postings last month. Demand was also strong in the information, retail trade, health care and social assistance, public administration and education services sectors.

Analysis of job posting data by metropolitan areas suggests that hiring momentum may be picking up in some markets that began 2022 with a modest level of activity. New York City (+3,571), Chicago (+1,912), Atlanta (+1,379), Philadelphia (+1,279) and Charlotte (+1,204) topped the list of the metro areas with the largest month-over-month increases in job postings.  

Software developers and engineers are far and away the most sought-after positions companies are looking to fill, with more than 115,000 job postings across the country. IT support specialists, IT project managers, systems engineers and architects and network engineers and architects are also in high demand.