With 15 million unemployed, thousands of middle class jobs go unfilled

Times are tough for the 15.1 million people looking for work. Many are likely to see their benefits end before they find another job. And yet there are lots of $60,000-a-year jobs that employers can't fill. What gives? Unfortunately people who got thrown out of jobs like assembling cars and trucks can't get new ones because they often don't have the right skills.

It is not exactly clear how many of those $60,000 jobs are out there. According to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2.4 million open jobs in July. Of those, 422,000 were in professional and business services and another 534,000 were in the education and health services categories. My guess is that most of those jobs pay at least $60,000 representing about 40 percent of the unfilled positions.