Graph summarizes the jobs situation

Catherine Rampell over at Economix (see here) has a graph that pretty much summarizes the jobs challenge (see below, click to enlarge).

 

Lawrence Mishel at EPI (see here) summarizes as follows:

The total number of job openings in May was 3.0 million, and the total number of unemployed workers was 13.9 million. The ratio of unemployed workers to job openings was 4.7-to-1 in May, as it was in April. The job seekers ratio has been above 4.3-to-1 for 29 consecutive months, meaning that for nearly two-and-a-half years, there has been no available job for at least three out of four unemployed workers. In the last recovery, which followed the 2001 recession, the ratio of unemployed to job openings never exceeded 2.8-to-1.