A recent survey proved what a difference a year can make,especially in an economy that keeps arching upward.

A year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number ofavailable job openings had stalled, suggesting that perhapsthe recovery had lost some steam. But despite the blip, whichturned out to be temporary, health care job openings led theway. Positions in transportation and IT — bellwethers ofbusiness growth — lagged considerably behind.

No longer.

A survey of more than 2,000 employees and hiring types byCareerBuilder found that IT and transportation personnel are themost sought-after by employers. Health care, still a major playerin the recruiting field, has fallen well behind them.

Here's the shakeout of the top sought-after positions:

1. Information technology — 49%

2. Transportation — 44%

3. Financial services — 40%

4. Health care (50 or more employees) — 32%

Financial services' No. 3 ranking in this survey underscores thetrend toward building up infrastructure as the dominant one todayin hiring terms.

CareerBuilder, via a Harris Poll, elicited input from a range ofbusiness sizes and industries, asking them about their plans forhiring in the second quarter.

The increases by company size were of the same magnitude — about5% to 6% among small, medium and large employers, compared to thesecond quarter of the next year.

More large employers (500-plus employees) plan to ramp up hiringin the second quarter than any other category (38%). Nearly threein 10 among the 500-and-fewer category reported they'll be addingemployees, with fewer small and medium employers expecting to hire(29% and 23%). But the increase over last year's numbers wereequivalent to the large employers.

Filling key positions isn't easy these days. Nearly half ofrespondents (43%) said it takes them 12 weeks or more to fillpositions.

That's leading to loosening the money belt as companies bothattempt to retain key personnel and lure top performers with biggerbucks than in past years. A quarter of respondents said they'reraising salaries by 5% or more compared to the same period lastyear. Those looking for IT workers are far more desperate, asindicated by the 37% there that are planning to offer 5% ormore.

Other survey findings included:

• In the first quarter of the year, 35% of respondents hiredfull-timers, compared to 29% a year ago

• In the second quarter, 32% plan to add full-time, permanentstaff, up from 26% last year

• 37% of employers plan to hire temporary/contractworkers in the second quarter, up from 33% in 2014

• 31% plan to transition some contract or temporary staff intopermanent employees in the second quarter, up from 26% last year.