The number of IT jobs grew 0.2 percent sequentially last month to 5,074,900, 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 3.8% since February 2015 adding 186,500 IT workers.

Engineering employment was essentially flat up only 0.02 percent sequentially to 2,530,500. On a year-over-year basis, engineering employment grew by an anemic 0.6% since February 2015 adding 15,700 engineering workers---continuing to underperform the overall workforce.

"During the first two months of 2016, IT job growth has trended below the growth rate we saw in 2015.  On the engineering side, employment was essentially flat," stated Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. "As with all indices that track aggregated employment data, these numbers mask some of the underlying dynamics of particular industries and skill sets. While some high demand skill sets continue to show considerable strength with an acute shortage of talent, unemployment rates have risen in occupations that serve industries such as energy which remain under pressure," observed Roberts.