This piece from Joan McCullough has some very interesting (if disturbing) stats on employment. Well worth a few minutes. "It is well and good that initial jobless claims are ratcheting towards breaking below the 400k line in the sand. Unfortunately, that’s only step one. It is the next step that we cannot seem to master, i.e., the creation of jobs. For every month that we go with elevated unemployment and underemployment as well as carrying the consume crimping psychological baggage of having to view this disaster even from the perch of an employed person, we are driven that much further back in economic retreat. Regardless of how much new equipment biz invests in, they are not investing in us. The longer this drags on, the more of us will be hitting that wall. At some point if this goes on unchecked, it will become next to impossible to turn it around. I’m thinkin’ of a lost generation now, so let me change the subject."