A survey of economists by Thomson Reuters concludes that the number of new jobless claims probably fell slightly to 545,000 from 545,000 last week. These numbers are the best measure of the level of layoff activity. While down from the April peak of 640,000, new jobless claims remain at historical highs, well above the 300,000 or so economists expect in a normal economy.

The total number of people receiving benefits is expected to drop slightly, to around 6.19 million Americans. In light of the new claims, it is safe to assume that this is because of people exhausting their benefits, not due to new hiring activity.

Economists estimated a net loss of over 200,000 jobs in August. The economy needs to add 100,000 jobs each month just to stay even with population growth. Additionally, long-term unemployment -- defined as those out of work for 27 weeks or longer -- is at historic highs, levels not seen since statistics were first tracked.

Oddly, the same economists tracking these figures keep pronouncing "the recession" over. Maybe it is over for them. They seem to have plenty of work. For the majority of Americans, this so-called recession (It's the new Depression, and everyone knows it by now so let's just cut the crapola.) will not be over until hiring picks up.