As I stated elsewhere, when you factor in people with temp jobs because they can't find real jobs the real unemployment rate is about 12-13%.
Europe has 10 to 11% unemployment and they're not hollering as loud as the few laid off techies around here.
In Europe unemployment is something like half pay indefinitely. And when you count in socialized medicine and possibly subsidized housing and generous retirement benefits being unemployed in Europe for an extended period of time does not mean bankruptcy the way it does here. So in Europe people unemployed people don't have to take temp jobs. So the European and American rates are really about equal except for the fact that Americans have no social safety net like Europeans do.
That's a nonsensical statistic. For one thing, all jobs are temporary. For another, even "temp" jobs are jobs.
You ain't unemployed if you are temping. Companies like EDS make a living throwing warm temp bodies to their customers like BellSouth, and many a "temp" has found life to be just fine and dandy without getting a so-called "real" job.