Typical contracting jobs have come out top in a list of the best fields to be in this year in a new study.

CareerCast has ranked 200 occupations on factors such as work environment, stress, hiring outlook and physical demand.

Number one on the Top 200 Jobs of 2011 list is the career of software engineer with low stress, physical demand and work environment couple with a high hiring outlook making this a near ideal job.

Computer systems analyst comes in fifth behind mathematician, actuary and statistician.

Meanwhile, the UK labour market is set to enjoy steady progression in 2011, according to the head of one umbrella company.

Rob Crossland, managing director at Parasol wrote on his Contracting Matters blog that there are some reasons to move forward optimistically into 2011, despite a tough past 12 months.

He said that the steady progression predicted for 2011 is much preferable to 2010's boom and bust climate.