It seems hard to conceive, but ultimately 1 in 5 Americans are without a job.  The 9.5% figure quoted for April does not include people who have previously/recently lost their jobs as well.  If you measure the number of people who were previously working, or were forced to go to part time work, that rate jumps to 1.5.  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/07/in_case_you_were_insufficientl.html?hpid=topnews