In December 2008, the number of unemployed persons increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million & the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent. Since the start of the recession in Dec. 2007, the number of unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million, & the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage points.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers & persons who completed temporary jobs rose over the month by 315,000 to 6.5 million in Dec. 2008. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has increased by 2.7 million unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose to 2.6 million in December & was up by 1.3 million in the last year, 2008.

(Bureau of Labor Statistics)