❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now
Maps: Jobs

Unemployment numbers equivalent to populations of three states

Kai Ryssdal Mar 2, 2011

This final note on the way out, some perspective on the unemployment report we’re going to get Friday morning. Derek Thompson at the Atlantic magazine likes to think of the labor market this way:

Companies have cut the equivalent of Virginia since the recession started in December 2007.

The entire populations of Virginia, Colorado, and Rhode Island are unemployed.

The entire metro areas of Chicago and Los Angeles have been unemployed for six months or more.

And the work week population of Washington D.C., has just given up looking for work.

We took a stab at visualizing those figures last month when unemployment fell to 9 percent, in case you need some more perspective.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.