by Calculated Risk on 12/29/2010 07:57:00 AM

Note: There will be no release this week of mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

From David Leonhardt at the NY Times: In the Rearview, a Year That Fizzled

When 2010 began, hiring and consumer spending were finally picking up. ... By the summer, the unemployment rate was rising again, and Americans’ attitudes about the future were again souring.
...
To look back at 2010 and to look ahead, we have put together a series of charts. If there is an overall message, it’s that the economy still needs a whole lot of work.

This graphic has two charts - the second one shows the "long road back" to full employment (below 6% unemployment rate). According to Moody's, if the economy adds 200,000 jobs per months, it will take until 2020. At a 250,000 per month pace, it will take until 2016. A long long time ...

No wonder the Census Bureau is adding another long term unemployed category. From the USA Today (ht Nanette)

Citing what it calls "an unprecedented rise" in long-term unemployment, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), beginning Saturday, will raise from two years to five years the upper limit on how long someone can be listed as having been jobless

And here are some more graphs from Leonhardt Snapshots of the Economy