Comparative Job Creation And Loss

TW: Folks have troubles putting this recession into context. This chart helps. It shows not only the recent job losses but also the relatively tepid job creation since the prior recession in 2001-2002. On a net basis the U.S. economy has not created any new jobs since the late 1990's despite a growing population. The great American jobs machine of the '80's and '90's has lost its mojo.

From the Big Picture blog:
"The Great 2007–2009 recession is the worst employment setback in the United States since the Great Depression.
• In the twenty months from December 2007 (the start of the recession) to August 2009 (the last month of available data as of this analysis), the nation lost more than 7.0 million private-sector jobs...
• As of August 2009, the nation had 1.3 million (1,256,000) fewer private- sector jobs than in December 1999. This is the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s that America will have an absolute loss of jobs over the course of a decade.
• From 1980-2000, the US gained a 35.5 million private-sector jobs. During the current decade, America has lost more than 1.7 million private-sector jobs..."
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/post-recession-employment-arithmetic/