April's unemployment numbers are out today, and it's the story of good news that won't come fast enough. Employment is up, by almost 300,000 jobs -- the best month since 2006. Unemployment is also up, to 9.9% from 9.7%. How is that possible?

Remember, the unemployment rate is a ratio of unemployed to the entire labor force, adjusted for seasonality. So job growth must outpace labor force growth to bring down the ratio. That's not happening yet, because the labor market grew by 800,000 people. That's largely good news. That more Americans are getting back into the job market probably means they see more opportunities.

Dan Indiviglio has the full rundown, replete with graphs and statistical nuggets. To make the joblessness hit home, let's translate the job situation into state population figures. For example, 15.2 million Americans are officially out of work. That is the population of Illinois plus New Mexico. Continuing with the rest of the unemployment report.

1. Population of Texas is Broadly Unemployed; New Jersey Forced to Work Part-Time

Broader unemployment rose to 17.1 -- or about 26 million people. The official unemployment rate -- known as U3 -- includes only those without jobs. The broader unemployment rate -- known as U6 -- includes people without jobs, people who have stopped looking for jobs, and people who are working part-time but want to work more. Twenty-six million Americans is basically the population of Texas.