Tech hiring activity in April was impacted by ongoing economic uncertainties and mixed market signals, according to CompTIA, a leading global provider of vendor-neutral IT training and certification products.

Data analysis from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report reveals that tech sector companies reduced staffing by a net 7,000 positions in April. While the tech services sector saw hiring gains, they were not sufficient to offset job losses in tech manufacturing, telecommunications, and cloud infrastructure.

Overall, employment in tech occupations dropped by an estimated 214,000 positions across the economy. Correspondingly, the unemployment rate for tech roles rose to 3.5%, up from 3.1% previously.

Despite a modest decline in tech job postings in April, employers added nearly 203,000 new listings. In total, there were almost 450,000 active tech job postings last month. High demand roles included software developers and engineers, systems engineers and architects, tech support specialists, cybersecurity engineers and analysts, and network engineers and architects.

Hiring for positions related to artificial intelligence (AI) continues to surge, with new AI job postings in April reaching 55,726—an increase of 184% compared to the same month last year, according to CompTIA’s analysis of Lightcast job posting data.

“It was not a great month of data, but expected given the circumstances,” said Tim Herbert, Chief Research Officer at CompTIA. “Employer tech job postings continue to hold up, so this could signal a resumption of hiring as companies regain their footing.”

Employers are increasingly adopting skills-based hiring strategies, with about half of all tech job postings in April not requiring a four-year degree.

Geographically, California led with 26,280 tech job postings in April, up by 1,037 from March. Texas, Virginia, and New York also ranked high in postings, while Arizona, West Virginia, and Maryland showed the largest month-over-month percentage increases.

In metropolitan areas, nine locations reported over 5,000 tech job postings each in April. New York City (12,526), Washington, D.C. (11,945), and Dallas (9,789) were the top cities. Metro areas with double-digit increases in postings from March to April included San Francisco (+14%), Phoenix (+11%), and Trenton (+16%).

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