The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

With the U.S unemployment rate holding steady at an unsettling 9.5% this past month— signifying more than 14.6 million out-of-work Americans—news that some of our nation’s industries are actually suffering from worker shortages may come as a surprise.

What’s to blame for the discrepancy between the near double-digit national unemployment rate and the dearth of workers to fill certain jobs? One word: qualifications.

In fact, according to CareerBuilder’s 2010 Mid-Year Job Forecast:

• One-in-five employers (22 percent) reported that, despite an abundant labor pool, they still have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates.
• Forty-eight percent of HR managers reported that there was an area of their organization in which they lacked qualified workers.

…

While the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent for the third straight month, in March the nation’s economy posted its largest job gain in three years.

According to recent Labor Department calculations, employers added 162,000 jobs last month— the most since the recession began more than two years ago. As The Huffington Post reports, “The total includes 48,000 temporary workers hired for the U.S. Census, also fewer than many economists forecast. Private employers added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007.”

Both public and private sectors felt an uptick in hiring, with temp services adding 40,000 workers; health care generating 7,000 jobs; and hospitality adding 22,000 positions.…