Employers frequently complain they cannot find qualified Americans to fill job openings, yet the ranks of the long-term unemployed continue to swell. Over 1.8 million Americans were long-term jobless in 2026—up sharply since 2019—according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This paradox highlights a persistent skills gap. Many companies hesitate to invest in training, preferring to wait for perfectly matched candidates amid economic uncertainty, automation shifts, and demographic changes. Yet experts note that upskilling existing or available workers could quickly close mismatches in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and trades.
So Many Jobs, So Few Openings
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The TMI Show" talk show. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Who compiles the stats over at the BLS?
The government.
Know one stat they don’t track? “What percentage of workers are employed in jobs that pay them enough to cover all basic expenses?” For the record, those expenses are rent/mortgage, utilities, food, clothing, entertainment, children (including their educations), pets, and incidentals.
There is a reason the government doesn’t track that particular data point.
The reason is left as an exercise for the student.
A company I worked for whose name rhymes with bell Margo had these enormous call centers. But all employees there were barred from applying to work for any jobs in wells as a banking employee if they took a job in the call center. They also signed that they were only employees as a contract employee and had to say they worked at apex staffing and not Wells Fargo and were not allowed to say they worked in finance or banking in their resume or future LinkedIn experience. And we sent out cease threats when former emoloyees put wells on the r linked in. The reason was supposed to be that it was federal compliance banking laws and privacy but it was really just to guarantee that the call centers were always staffed with employees who had no upward mobility and high turnover was assumed.