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 of available job openings had stalled, suggesting that perhaps the recovery had lost some steam. But despite the blip, which turned out to be temporary, health care job openings led the way. Positions in transportation and IT — bellwethers of business growth — lagged considerably behind.

No longer.

A survey of more than 2,000 employees and hiring types by CareerBuilder found that IT and transportation personnel are the most sought-after by employers. Health care, still a major player in 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 the trend toward building up infrastructure as the dominant one today in hiring terms.

CareerBuilder, via a Harris Poll, elicited input from a range of business sizes and industries, asking them about their plans for hiring in the second quarter.

The increases by company size were of the same magnitude — about 5% to 6% among small, medium and large employers, compared to the second quarter of the next year.

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

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

That's leading to loosening the money belt as companies both attempt to retain key personnel and lure top performers with bigger bucks than in past years. A quarter of respondents said they're raising salaries by 5% or more compared to the same period last year. Those looking for IT workers are far more desperate, as indicated by the 37% there that are planning to offer 5% or more.

Other survey findings included:

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

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

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

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