The Economy's Rising Tide

Lisa Jackson, a 25-year-old mother of two with a high school diploma, had never held a job before last spring. With the end of her welfare benefits looming, Jackson headed to a job fair near her New Carrollton (Md.) home and nabbed a position with a nearby Marriott hotel. When she showed up for work, Marriott immediately enrolled her in a six-week training class. "I was very surprised," Jackson says, of the company's investment in her.

So, too, are employers. As the U.S. economy sprints into its ninth year of expansion, companies are hiring thousands of people like Lisa a month. Unemployment has fallen to 4.2%, its lowest level in 29 years and, some economists predict, could drop further. That leaves companies reaching deeper into untapped portions of the labor market to hire people who have never been employed, have been out of the workforce for years, or who lack basic skills.