24,700,000 Unemployed or Underemployed Americans

``In fact, looking at U-6 data back to the early 1960s which is the best I have been able to find, we are having the worst economic recession since World War II. That is why even though the headline rate of 8.9% is much lower than the 10.8% peak of 1982, our overall unemployed and underemployed is much higher at 15.8% and that is why this recession feels a lot worse. ''