Venture investing pulled back in the first quarter due in part to a broad industry-wide rationalization. The deals most feeling the pinch are early stage ones. Here are some thoughts on why from a look at the numbers.

The first quarter won’t close till Sunday, but an early look at the period finds the soft venture-investment environment continued. Venture capitalists in the United States put $6.2 billion to work in the quarter fueling 707 deals, according to a tally by PitchBook

Last year security investing rose 5% to $1.02 billion at a time when venture investing overall fell 10%. The increase came after a hefty 94% jump in venture dollars committed in 2011.

Venture capitalists in most regions of the country put less money to work in 2012 than 2011. Not in the Pacific Northwest. There, money dispatched to emerging companies rose a startling 35%.

Despite all the talk of a narrowing of the investment funnel as a flood of angel and seed deals compete for a limited number of Series A fundings, the funnel seems to be widening.

Venture investing fell in 2012 for the first time in three years as global economic uncertainty combined with a soft fundraising environment to spark caution in the general partners.

Venture capitalists remained cautious during the summer months of a presidential election year, reining in third quarter investments in the face of a slow economy and soft IPO market. Investments by U.S. firms came to $6.49 billion in the quarter down 11.6% from a year ago.

Do you expect the pace of deal making to be slow all year or do you think 2012 total will outpace 2011? Early results show that half of peHUB’s readers think deal making will remain slow, while the other half thinks it will pick up.

Venture investors took their foot off the gas in the first quarter and cut back on the money they pump into young companies by 19%. This could be the result of last year’s public market volatility or another sign the venture business’s consolidation.

Venture capitalists pulled back in the first quarter, investing $5.8 billion in 758 deals and shifting money to later-stage companies ahead of an improving IPO market.