Ever shifting and complex, the U.S. economy cannot precisely match people and jobs even in the best of times, let alone now when sluggishness and slowdown have reduced overall employer demand for workers. This predicament shows up clearly in Labor Department statistics. In October, for example, 110,000 jobs went unfilled, even while the unemployment rate rose.
Nearly all the openings were for blue-collar and clerical employees, those tracked most consistently by the Labor Department, using figures supplied by employment offices in all 50 states. Thus the Government's figures exclude many white-collar professional jobs that are not listed with such offices, and the...
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