Many of the construction jobs created by the housing boom will probably not return, which spells trouble for men without a college education. More than 1.6 million construction jobs were lost in the past two years. And many high-paying jobs in the financial sector may not be coming back, said the Journal.

The recession also hastened the end of jobs that were already becoming obsolete thanks to advancing technology. The ranks of administrative and clerical workers fell by 10 percent in the past two years, and even as the economy recovers many of those tasks will become automated, said the Journal.

The permanent loss of these jobs will likely slow a recovery, as it will take time to create new types of jobs and retrain workers to do them, said the Journal.