If one of your New Year's resolutions is to get a better job - or just get a job, period - Houston is the place to be.

The Greater Houston Partnership forecasts that the 10-county Houston metro area will create 76,000 jobs in 2013. The GHP also has identified more than 240 companies planning to relocate, expand or start new operations in Houston.

By the end of 2013, more than 2.8 million Houstonians will hold jobs, a milestone for the region. Even 2012 will end with a bang, with 92,200 more jobs than the end of 2011.

"We are one of the strongest metropolitan areas in the U.S.," said Patrick Jankowski, GHP vice president of research. "By November 2011, we had reached pre-recession levels of employment."

But it won't be the oil and gas industry driving new jobs next year, Jankowski said. That honor goes to an industry that is typically the last to recover from a recession - construction. Energy companies, including Dow Chemical, Chevron and ExxonMobil, are building chemical plants in the region. Jankowski said these plants cost between $500 million and $1 billion to construct, three to five years to complete, and generate a wide range of work for welders, electricians, pipe fitters and safety officers.

Construction also applies to the housing industry - Houston metro is forecast to add more than 25,000 single-family homes in 2013.

With the GHP forecasting an additional 16,200 construction jobs, Jankowski said construction is now the fastest-growing job generator in the region.

The health-care industry also is alive and well in Houston, creating more than 18,000 jobs between October 2011 and October 2012. This trend should continue, Jankowski said, due to an aging population. More than 600,000 Houstonians will reach retirement age in the next 10 years.

While jobs in these industries require a high level of skill, there is one that's not quite as stringent - the service industry. Jankowski said the forecast calls for an additional 200-250 dining establishments to open in 2013, and the food service industry will add 9,800 jobs.

"Income growth and population growth support restaurant growth," Jankowski said. "The other factor is that people are feeling better now about going out to eat without downsizing where they go out to eat."

Overall, 2013 looks promising for Houston-area workers.

"It's a pretty good forecast because the things driving Houston's economy are strong," Jankowski said. "We see the benefits of recovery at all levels."