Unemployment remains the real issue!

The Economic Policy Institute (see here) has posted this graph (see below, click to enlarge).

The authors state that:

During the last two downturns, the highest the unemployment rate reached was 7.8% before declining again. The Great Recession has been far worse for the job market. In fact, we have now been a full percentage point over that level for more than two years: the unemployment rate has been at or above 8.8% for the past 28 months.

I keep waiting for this issue to become THE issue (as opposed to things like the national debt, global warming studies, whether the Federal Reserve Chairman is flirting with "treason," the gold standard, ....).