Employment on a slippery slope

This chart, courtesy of www.CalculatedRisk.com, is the scariest depiction of the current cycle and what makes it different.

Employment Recessions June 2010

I will provide my “animal spirits” view on the double dip issue soon.  I think we are looking at a long, agonizing slide into depression.  I don’t see the pronounced failure of “animal spirits” that is the hallmark of a recession yet—just a very, very sick economy not getting better.