Lack of computer skills foils many job-seekers

However deeply computers may have embedded themselves into modern life, there are still millions of people for whom they remain a challenge. For these Americans, finding a new job during a time of high unemployment can be especially difficult. No one knows how many they are, because there is almost no credible research to assess Americans' overall computer skills. Economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, who highlighted the lack of data, lamented recently that researchers have, at best, "only cloudy information on technology use" and "levels and kinds of job skill requirements." That means it's impossible to quantify the impact of computer literacy on unemployment. But related research and anecdotal evidence suggest a significant link.