Unemployment Hits 26-Year High Of 9.7 Percent

[Reason]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112548480&sc=nl&cc=nh-20090904

[angelatc]

But people aren't being let go as fast as they once were, so it's really not a bad thing, Komrade!

[acptulsa]

I wonder how many years since we've had this much unemployment really, a la in uncooked numbers. Since 1939?

[jsu718]

The U6 is still around 20%... the U5 is more what I would call the "real" unemployment rate and it is around 15-16% most places. When people don't apply for unemployment, they don't count in the numbers. When people's unemployment benefits run out, they don't count in the numbers. That's why the U3 is an entirely flawed measurement when the situation gets like it is now.