Something to keep in mind when discussing the 8% unemployment rate...
1. Somewhere around 4% is full employment. Those 4% are the ones in transition or who don’t want a job.
2. A large number of households have both adults working. Many with only one adult working have another trained spouse who chooses not to work. This fact means that even with 8% unemployed, significantly fewer households are totally unemployed.
3. The doom and gloom is causing much of the lack of confidence. People with steady jobs are not buying because of fear. This will need to change before we can recover.
Unemployment Rate: A Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2193658/posts
Those who don't want a job and therefore aren't looking if they are polled by the Department of Labor trying to calculate employment stats don't count among the unemployed. You are only part of the labor pool if you have a job or are actively looking for a job.
3. The doom and gloom is causing much of the lack of confidence. People with steady jobs are not buying because of fear. This will need to change before we can recover.
Either fear or sudden sobriety at how the country has been living. Is it fear or rational thought that makes you realize that you really do need a few months of pay in the bank? It is a problem for the economy when everyone comes to that realization at once, but that can be overcome when banks start lending to business which are focused on longer term projects than just blind consumption.