OMG chart of the day on unemployment

The unemployed continue to be jobless for weeks and weeks on, as a contrast to past recessions. (ht)

At some point, this alone could break the economy, right?  I mean, a rational explanation for why this is not a bad omen is ....???

One possibility is that this high rate of unemployment will become the new normal for the US economy.  In other words, something that Western European economies have known for the longest time.
But, there is one major difference between us and them: we do not have the kind of safety net that Western European governments provide their peoples.

Surveying the economic scene, Paul Krugman writes:

this past Monday Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, was asked the obvious question: if deficits are so worrisome, what about the budgetary cost of extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which the Obama administration wants to let expire but Republicans want to make permanent? What should replace $650 billion or more in lost revenue over the next decade?

His answer was breathtaking: “You do need to offset the cost of increased spending. And that’s what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.” So $30 billion in aid to the unemployed is unaffordable, but 20 times that much in tax cuts for the rich doesn’t count.

In such economic times, the fact that I have a job is more than enough reason to celebrate, even though it is at a place where I have been excommunicated by those faithful to the union leadership and unionism.  I feel terrible for those millions who are looking for something productive to do.  And even more for those who have given up.