In some parts of the country where factory jobs have disappeared and unemployment is soaring, there are many jobs openings that remain unfilled. What gives? It turns out that “the fastest-growing jobs in the American economy are those that are often held by women.” As the NYT’s Susan Chira explains, the notions of masculinity die hard. And those notions aren’t just held by men. One researcher “found that some men who might have been willing to consider lower-paid jobs in typically feminine fields encountered resistance from their wives, who urged them to keep looking.”

+ So many modern business and cultural trends are hitting the same places in the same (often deleterious) ways. From the NYT: In Towns Already Hit by Steel Mill Closings, a New Casualty: Retail Jobs.

+ “While coal companies are hiring again, executives are starting to search for workers who can crunch gigabytes of data or use a joystick to maneuver mining vehicles hundreds of miles away.” Bloomberg: Looking for a Coal Job? Better Work on Those PlayStation Skills.