It’s the time of year when a lot of economists and labor-market experts publish their forecasts for employment in the following year. The employment forecasts for 2014 are uniformly positive.

The Federal Reserve predicts that unemployment in the fourth quarter of 2014 will be 6.2% to 6.9%, which represents a steady improvement over 2013. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in November 2013 was 7.0%, down from 7.3% in October. In fact, the rate has been heading downward since May 2010.

Kiplinger’s believes the recent trend signals higher economic growth in 2014. It notes that although job gains were highest in healthcare, almost every sector generated new jobs. The organization expects job growth will be strongest in mid-2014.

Which types of jobs will be the most in-demand? Forbes runs down the top 10 jobs in terms of salary gains in 2014. You probably won’t be surprised to learn they’re all related to technology in some way. The top 10 job titles range from technical engineer and mobile applications developer to data architect and network engineer.

Zeroing in further on employment forecasts for the technology sector, Computerworld released its annual forecast of job prospects for IT professionals and identified 8 hot IT skills for 2014.

Thirty-two percent of companies in Computerworld’s survey expected to increase hiring next year. The top skills that everyone, but everyone, will be looking for include programming/app development, help desk/tech support, networking, mobile app management and project management.

Employers, if you’re looking for new talent in any of these fields, expect tough competition for the best candidates. Now is the time to assess how your staffing will help your company meet its growth strategy in 2014. The best recruiters and staffing firms are preparing by building up their data banks of qualified candidates right now.

What is your forecast of the employment market in 2014?