As I have commented previously, most notably in an October 6 post, in my opinion the official methodologies used to measure the various job loss and unemployment statistics do not provide an accurate depiction. However, I believe that the following charts provide an interesting perspective of the officially-stated employment situation from a long-term historical perspective.
The first two charts are from the St. Louis Fed site. Here is the Median Duration of Unemployment:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4iWRSSelVh4YJqKaeQ_xbeTF0qV8OgYm1rv3Z4D0z5yOjiK7M1ysjvD4x1bKAcHUL8Sky8h5QtEJuWazW8itSu-8V1IRgBi7yNbhZWH20-BQqB-NVKbBW354wj1hLVW3qRkTsbhUFtY/s320/UEMPMED_4-2-10.png)
Here is the chart for Unemployed 27 Weeks and Over:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyuoUC0Nbw7gEC5jba62OFtRHXlj41mEmxhj6mtx0eaIccbun8hqMYKjiz3LiSiMjQDq2Bb7wKujgr1cdaUKGExQT51bbQdEGGdlXldgMWAHRuqeBX29vkGfBOhJ32uGoB75W6lDrElSE/s320/UEMP27OV_4-2-10.png)
Lastly, a chart from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve site. This shows the employment situation vs. that of previous recessions (as characterized by severity):
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUHXmu-k5ApPXkaz1KoNFylKw1PkEcAPHDxBzHALOxqaKHWRGzah8f2rDNA393iNsEMCrd9U6qtgpc7UMCTiTdm0J8Qk6rTZL19hRgdpBhyx4BZLdvQgsoje7U9wpLufy36ymHBO8d7o/s320/frb+Minneapolis+employment+4-2-10+large.jpg)
As depicted by these charts, our unemployment problem is severe. Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any "easy" solutions.
Back in July 2009 I wrote a series of blog posts titled "Why Aren't Companies Hiring?"
SPX at 1192.13 as this post is written
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