The Great Greenspan Depression of The Millennium

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 30 million people currently unemployed -- that's including those involuntarily working parttime and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting. "The Decline: The Geography of a Recession," as created by labor writer LaToya Egwuekwe, serves as a vivid representation of just how much. Watch the deteriorating transformation of the U.S. economy from January 2007 to the most recent unemployment data available today.

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UPDATE
On March 5th, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7% during the month of February. This is, of course the REPORTED unemployment. the statistics do not include those that gave up looking for jobs, the under employed and many others that do not bother to file for unemployment benefits or that otherwise do not qualify. It is estimated that the actual number of unemployed is triple the reported amount in areas of the country.

The chart below illustrates the dramatic rise in unemployment. As expected, a higher educational attainment has correlated with a lower unemployment rate. For example, the unemployment rate for those that have not completed high school (red line) has increased from 5.8% to 15.6% over the past 40 months -- nearly a 10 percentage point increase. Compare that to the unemployment rate for those that have obtained a bachelor's degree or greater (blue line). The unemployment rate for those with a minimum of a bachelor's degree is currently three percentage points above where it was 40 months ago.