Employment sprang back by 3.5% in the 12 months following the end of the deep 1981-82 downturn. When the economy started growing again in March 1933 the employment bounceback was springier still. No such turnaround has emerged this time. The American economy has seen downturns this severe and recoveries this jobless but never the one on top of the other.

HERE'S the way these things typically work. A deep recession is usually followed by a rapid recovery. From 1934 to 1936, the American economy grew by 10.9%, 8.9%, and 13.0% per year, respectively. From 1983 to 1985, annual growth came in at 4.5%, 7.2%, and 4.1%. For now, it seems the American economy will struggle to grow by 3% in the first full calendar year after the recession. Still, growth of any sort typically ends up producing some employment growth, and so rapid recoveries from deep recessions usually produce a lot of employment growth

The chart at right makes the point. This is uncharted territory for the American economy. We have already observed the ways that the weak and jobless recovery has strained budgets and labour market institutions. It will place transformative pressure on other political and economic institutions as well before the unemployment rate falls back to "normal" levels, I think it's safe to say.