SALESMEN WANTED: Also engineers, teachers and drivers to make deliveries.

Companies are having a hard time hiring for some positions despite growing unemployment, said Melanie Holmes, a vice-president with staffing company Manpower Inc., which surveyed employers on hard-to-fill jobs.

That's due to a combination of factors. Some industries face surging demand. In health care, aging baby boomers are overwhelming the field, while there's a shortage of qualified nurses to teach nursing students, Holmes said. In other fields, such as engineering, new "green" energy initiatives are expanding the scope of the industry. At the same time, engineering companies are having a hard time replacing retirees.

And in some instances, Americans just aren't as willing to perform certain tasks, Holmes said. She's seen anecdotal evidence that more and more immigrants are leaving the US as the economy falters, and native-born Americans aren't as eager to fill the jobs new immigrants often perform.

The list of positions employers said they had the most difficulty finding someone for included:

— Engineers

— Nurses

— Skilled/manual trades

— Teachers

— Sales representatives

— Technicians

— Short-haul drivers

— IT staff

— Labourers

— Machinist/Machine operators

Manpower randomly surveyed human resources departments from about 2,000 companies throughout the US in late January.

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CONSUMER ESSENTIALS: Americans may be cutting back on computers, books, washing machines and jewellery, but they're still going to the dentist.

Sageworks, which collects data on private companies, said the average dentist office saw 6.9 percent sales growth in the 12 months through April.

— Auto repair shops, with sales up 2.4 percent in the past year.

— Building equipment contractors, such as electricians and plumbers, had sales gains of 4.6 percent as homeowners focused on remodelling.

— Grocery store sales receipts grew by 6.7 percent.

— Trade and technical schools revenues were up 9.3 percent.