Pennsylvania closes out the list with a 1.7 percent increase over Q1 and Q2 in 2012. "You have two markets here: greater Philadelphia and greater Pittsburgh. It's similar to what we're seeing in Illinois where it's not being driven by technology company growth but the growth and need for technology staff within other companies," says Melland.
Inside Philadelphia
According to the Robert Half IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report, 14 percent of Philadelphia-area technology executives surveyed recently expect to expand their IT teams in the third quarter of 2013.
Forty-seven percent plan to hire to fill open IT roles in the upcoming quarter, 30 percent plan to put hiring on hold and 8 percent expect to reduce their IT staff in the third quarter.
Eighty-nine percent of Philly's CIOs were optimistic about their companies' prospects for growth in the Q3.
What skills are in demand in Philadelphia? According to the most recent data from Robert Half Technology, 54 percent of the Philadelphia technology executives who responded to the survey said that desktop support is among the skills in greatest demand within their IT departments. Database management and network administration were the runner-ups.
"As Philadelphia companies look to upgrade their infrastructure with the latest versions of existing technology, they require IT professionals with a range of development and support skills. This has intensified the competition for top talent with desktop support and network administration experience," said Tim Mullane, Philadelphia regional vice president of Robert Half Technology.
Rich Hein is a senior writer for CIO.com. He covers IT careers. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline, on Facebook, and onGoogle +.
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This story, "Top 10 States for Tech Jobs Growth" was originally published by CIO.