Tech unemployment hit 2.2 percent in September, according to the latest CompTIA analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s a slight increase from August, when the rate stood at 2.1 percent, and still remains below the national unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.

“There is no sugar-coating the off month of tech employment data,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA, wrote in a statement accompanying the latest breakdown. “Despite the persistently high demand for tech skills on many fronts and positive forward-looking projections, there is a lag in hiring at the moment."

Employers’ tech job postings fell to 184,077 in September. There were some bright spots in the data, however: well-established tech hubs such as California, Texas, and Virginia continue to generate jobs, and there’s a hunger among employers for tech pros skilled in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning: jobs requiring “emerging tech skills” accounted for 26.5 percent of all tech job postings in September, a small but noticeable uptick from 22 percent in August.

According to crowdsourced tech layoff tracker layoffs.fyi, tech layoffs remained relatively stable in September, especially when compared to earlier this year. Some bigger companies are beginning to hire again after laying off tens of thousands of workers earlier this year, including Salesforce, which recently announced that it will hire 3,300 new employees. But some tech-centric industries are also cutting workers: for example, numerous video game studios have seen cutbacks over the past few weeks.

No matter what your current role in tech, pay attention to the skills that employers want; that demand usually persists despite fluctuations in the unemployment numbers. For instance, tracking by analyst firm Foote Partners LLC shows rising pay premiums for DataOps, A.I., blockchain, and cybersecurity. Relying on a SWOT analysis can help you uncover your strengths and potentially plot your next move.