Job Losses – Making Grim Look Grimmer

I’ve seen this graph bob up in a couple of places over recent days – it’s pretty alarming as it shows job numbers in the US falling off a cliff when compared to job losses in previous recessions.

However, it fails to account for the increase in the size of the US economy between those dates, and more to the point the increase in the number of jobs.  Rather than comparing the drop in job numbers in absolute terms it’s obviously more appropriate to look at the drop in percentage terms. 

 

It’s still scary, but has less of an Armageddon feel to it than the top graph.