Jobs are the backbone of our economy, but they are in short supply right now. Even though the official unemployment number dropped to 8.6 percent last month, according to the Dec. 2 U.S. Department of Labor Press Release, and the government announced a decline in new workers seeking unemployment compensation benefits, this doesn’t tell the whole story.

While job figures are looking up, the real jobless rate can be deceptive, because retailing jobs historically pick up for the Christmas season. Many of these jobs are not permanent, and employees are laid off after the season ends. Also, many part-time workers, and persons who have been out of work so long that they have stopped looking to get hired, are not counted in the unemployment figures.

Some people are taking retirement earlier than they wanted to, or have given up looking for jobs because they were tired of being turned down. These people are not applying for unemployment benefits, so the figures appear to be dropping.

Yet there are some positive signs. The private sector increased 1.5 million jobs in 2011, according to the Kiplinger Letter of Dec. 2, but approximately 1.2 million additional young people enter the market to seek jobs each year. Profits are up in some fields. In the metal manufacturing, auto and electrical industries, business is expanding, orders are up and some new jobs are opening. But the growth in business or growth in profits has not been equal to the growth in jobs.

Businesses feel uncertain and still lack confidence in the economy. Some big businesses have done well in the last year, helped by government bailouts or lower bank rates. But most felt new investments were not justified, and delayed adding employees.

Small businesses, however, did not have the opportunity to receive government bailouts, bank loans with low-interest rates or positive incentives to hire more employees. Costs went up, sales went down and a number of small businesses went out of business. Besides retail stores, restaurant businesses were hit hard. Foods like flour, meats, fish, milk and other items cost more, which resulted in menu price increases, smaller servings and more layoffs. People go out to eat in restaurants less each week and the job opportunities suffer.

Perhaps the present risk levels in our bad economy are too high for small businesses to employ more people for awhile. Again, unknown future regulations, tax increases and health care costs, among other factors hold back creating new jobs. Three groups of people face a particularly tough time in the job market right now. First, young adults 18-24 years of age face severe unemployment. In the City of Detroit, the unemployment rate is as high as 30 percent for young men and women, according to the Huffington Post. Other large cities have a similar unemployment patterns.

Second, a lot of companies are overlooking people who have been out of work for more than a year, even if they have been trying hard to get re-employed, which seems unfair.

Third, those without college degrees are experiencing high levels of unemployment.

Our job market has shifted from blue collar to white collar, often requiring college-level skills. A lot of people looking for jobs do not have the right skills for many of the available job openings.

Construction jobs on infrastructure like roads, bridges and buildings faced setbacks due to plunging tax revenues. States and local municipalities lost 500,000 jobs since January 2009, according to Hangar’s Facts of the Day.

Some of these jobs will come back, but public construction jobs are not a permanent solution.

The long-term solutions to solve this problem require an emphasis on education and training, in skilled jobs. The economy could get worse or down longer before it gets better, so now is the time for skilled retraining or learning a new trade to get a job.

We need to face the changes in our job markets. We also need our government to create an environment that encourages businesses to take the necessary risks to grow.  Government spending must be cut back, so that the federal budget can be balanced, and business taxes and new regulation compliances must be reduced or eliminated to encourage businesses to invest in growth and jobs.

We still face an unpredictable economy in 2012. We need leaders who can help us overcome our economic challenges and turn our opportunities into positive outcomes for all of us. 

— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist for the Journal Tribune and former president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce.