We already know that software engineers and other tech workers are in big demand, with companies like Facebook, Google, eBay and Zynga setting up shop here to tap into our talent pool.

The big guys were followed by smaller companies such GreenButton, Rhiza Labs and The Climate Corporation that also have opened offices locally. Meanwhile, our home-grown tech companies, including F5 Networks, Amazon and others, also are hiring.

A new report out by the staffing agency Robert Half Technology puts it in perspective, saying that for the fourth quarter of 2011, the national average unemployment rate for software developers of application and system software was 4.4 percent. That’s well below the national jobless rate of 8.5 percent and Washington’s 8.7 percent unemployment rate.

Some tech positions are in really high demand. Here are some specific positions, with their estimated unemployment rates:

--Computer network architects: 0.5 percent

--Database administrators: 0.8 percent

--Computer hardware engineers: 2.2 percent

--Computer and information systems managers: 2.4 percent

--Computer systems analysts: 2.7 percent

--Computer programmers: 3.6 percent

--Web developers: 3.6 percent

-- Software developers, application and system software: 4.4 percent