More and More Job Openings Going Unfilled

A number of viewers were struck by our story last Friday on the question over current U.S. unemployment: is it more nearly structural or cyclical in nature? That is, are we simply in a down cycle, a recession from which we are bound to emerge, creating a bounty of jobs in the process? Or is there a deep mismatch between what jobs there are (or might be) — the structure of the economy –and the skills, or lack of skills, of the American labor force?

The Wall Street Journal published a Labor Department graph that supports the “structural” explanation. Job openings seem to have been going up the past few years, but hires are flat. Just take a look.

This entry is cross-posted on the Making Sen$e page, where correspondent Paul Solman answers your economic and business questions _Follow Paul on Twitter._