[WHAT TO DO: Avoid devastation if you get laid off]
[BY THE NUMBERS: State by state unemployment numbers]
Economists say it's due to a mismatch between available work and people qualified to do it.
So, even as the unemployment rate nears 10 percent, some employers can't find qualified people for good-paying career jobs.
Analysts say it's become especially hard to find accountants, health care workers, software sales representatives, physical therapists and electrical engineers.
An expert with Moody's Economy.com says the unemployed may need to find more than just a new company -- they may need to find a new industry. As she puts it, a 50-year-old who's been screwing bolts into car panels isn't going to be able to become a health-care administrator overnight.
Economists say the mismatch between job opening and job seeker may persist, even as the economy strengthens. Meanwhile, the numbers show an average of six people are competing for each job opening -- the highest ratio on government records dating to 2000.
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