TriNet, a leading cloud-based provider of HR services, announced Thursday the findings of the March issue of its TriNet SMBeat. March's report features an in-depth look at employment growth for specific job titles across industries and geographies between January 2009 and March 2014. According to the report, jobs in the areas of sales and marketing experienced the greatest average annual growth since 2009 with a 25% annualized increase. The SMBeat report is a monthly analysis of small business employment and human capital economic indicators.

In the six years since the Great Recession of 2008, industries and regions throughout the U.S. have experienced continued growth. Most notably, jobs in sales and marketing as well as software engineering grew the most, while operations grew the least. However, for unemployed workers, simply knowing which industries are growing may not be enough to find gainful employment. In some cases, candidates may find it necessary to acquire new skills to become a competitive applicant or transition to new positions. By understanding hiring prospects, job seekers can make better-informed decisions on which skills to learn.

Below are the key findings on employment growth for specific job titles across industries and geographies since the beginning of 2009. Data is sourced from TriNet's more than 8,900 clients and approximately 230,000+ worksite employees in the U.S.:

• Sales and Marketing: The fastest growing jobs coming out of the last recession have been sales and marketing related. Even in the first year post recession, sales and marketing jobs saw 13% average growth. Average annual growth has been at 25% during the past four years. These jobs are expected to continue to expand, increasing to about 33% average annual net job growth in 2014. Regional analysis shows that sales and marketing jobs in theNew York Metro area are poised to grow the fastest in 2014 with a forecasted annual growth rate of 37%.
• Software Engineering: With the advent of the digital economy, software engineering jobs have proliferated beyond the tech sector. These roles can be found in virtually every sector. Nationally, the tech sector has been growing strongly since 2009 boasting 20% annual average growth between 2010 and 2013. These software-related jobs are forecast to grow at a slightly slower pace in 2014 with 18% annual growth. The New York Metro area has shown the highest demand for software developers, with a four-year average annual growth rate of 35%, while the forecast for 2014 is expected to grow at an annual rate of 17%.
• Operations: Support and back-office jobs, like project management, accounting and customer service, have grown at the slowest rate since the last recession. Between 2010 and 2013, annual growth in these jobs was 9%. The outlook for net job growth in operations in 2014 is 7%. In the San Francisco Bay Area, these jobs have been expanding at an annual rate of 19%, buoyed by the strong growth in the region's tech sector overall. The operations expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area is forecasted to grow at a rate of 12% in 2014.

In addition to the findings on post-recession employment trends, the report showed overall job growth in March increased 0.86%, up from 0.81% in February. The most notable increase was in the construction sector. It jumped to 1.47% net job growth, up from 0.92% in February. California led this vertical with 1.28% net job growth, followed byGeorgia and Florida with 1.09% and 0.66% net job growth, respectively.

The tech sector is experiencing another month of strong growth as well. Nationally, the tech sector saw 1.69% net job growth in March. Boston leads the tech sector this month with 3.22% net job growth, surpassing New York, Silicon Valley, Denver-Boulder, Atlanta and Los Angeles.