The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the most recent unemployment numbers last week. Things aren’t looking good for the unemployed, I’m afraid.

I showed my younger sister the maps. Her response: “It looks like the country is bleeding.”



While the recession is “over” the unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in September from 9.7% in August. That’s 214,000 more people who are jobless in the United States. The last time unemployment was this high was back in June 1983 when it was 10.1%.

Check out the more detailed view here:

From 2004 to 2007, unemployment was actually decreasing, but things went sour in 2008, and we’ve been trying to bounce back ever since.

Update: See the step-by-step tutorial on how you can make a map like this with your data.