Visit Jorge Camoes' blog for the commentary on his wonderfully informative charts.
I think it's worth pointing out that, even for Michigan, the unemployment situation was worse in the early 80's; but, looking at the surface chart, it appears that we are on our way to a similar crisis. The crisis, though, is a lack of employment opportunities for low-skilled labor, and not a crisis of economic output.
GDP will continue to rise, and may soon even grow at a faster rate as many low-skilled unemployed people take the opportunity to develop new skills.
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Related:
Unemployment rate U.S. map
Unemployment rate by education level over time [graph]
A closer look at the unemployment rate
Job gains and losses by sector over time [infographic]
