With all signs pointing to real positive movement in the U.S. economy, it’s not surprising that the The 2015 CareerBuilder U.S. Job Forecast has some good news for Americans seeking jobs or raises. In 2014, the study reports, hiring increased broadly, and that trend is likely to be even more pronounced this year. What does it mean for small business owners?

Full-Time Hiring Will Increase

Some 36 percent of employers overall say they will hire more full-time, permanent staff in 2015. That’s up 12 percentage points from 2014, and the best hiring outlook since 2006.

What skills areas are especially hot? Sales tops the list (36 percent), followed by customer service (33 percent), information technology (26 percent), production (26 percent) and administrative personnel (22 percent).

An especially encouraging sign: Small business hiring is ramping up. In general, small businesses are almost always more cautious when hiring—for good reason. However, 29 percent of small companies in the survey plan on hiring full-time, permanent workers in 2015, up from 22 percent in 2014.

Temporary Hiring Will Increase

Permanent employees aren’t the only ones in demand—46 percent of employers say they will hire temporary or contract workers in 2015, up from 42 percent last year. While this is partly driven, of course, by a desire to keep costs down and staff up or down nimbly, more than half (56 percent) of those employers plan to transition at least some of their new temporary or contract workers into full-time, permanent jobs.

Part-Time Hiring Will Increase

In 2015 nearly a quarter (23 percent) of employers will hire part-time workers, an increase of 6 percentage points over 2014. One motivator is concerns about the Affordable Care Act and its requirements to provide health insurance to full-time employees.

You’ll Pay More for Employees

Good news for employees and job seekers, bad news for business owners: Wages and salaries are on the rise. Whatever happens or doesn’t happen with state minimum wage laws, nearly half (45 percent) of employers plan to raise their companies’ minimum wage this year. Nearly seven in 10 will pay $10 per hour, 39 percent will pay $12 per hour and 18 percent will pay $15 or more per hour.

Overall, a whopping 82 percent of employers say they will increase compensation for existing employees this year, up from 73 percent last year. Most of the pay increases will be between 1 and 3 percent, but a significant 19 percent of employers will give pay increases between 4 and 5 percent.

Not only will existing employees enjoy fatter paychecks, but almost two-thirds (64 percent) of employers will increase starting salaries for new hires, up from 49 percent who did so in 2014.

On the Rise

While some might grumble about higher salaries and wages, if your employees have been doing more with less for the past several years, it’s about time they saw greater rewards. And with competition heating up for qualified workers, spending money increasing wages for those who deserve it, is money well spent.

Courtesy: Small Biz Trends

About Rieva Lesonsky

Rieva Lesonsky, founder and CEO of GrowBiz Media, is a widely recognized small-business expert and author of the bestselling book Start Your Own Business. Former Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine, Rieva has been meeting with, consulting to and speaking to America’s SMBs—and the big corporations that want to reach them—for over 25 years. This experience has given her an inside perspective on what entrepreneurs want, how to connect with them, and how to help them grow successful businesses. Rieva has worked with B-to-B marketers including American Express, Dell, State Farm and many others, and with organizations including ASBDC, SCORE and the SBA, to market to and educate entrepreneurs.