As a nation, we gained jobs every month during 2007 compared to the same month one year before. However, since July of 2008, we’ve seen a loss in jobs nationwide, and up until Februrary of this year, it’s gotten worse every month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the recession has claimed more than 5 million jobs. This interactive map from Slate Magazine says it all.
(Interactive version.) As a general idea of how unemployment has spread it works fine. But for details of a county it’s terrible. I tried for awhile to rollover my county and gave up. You can’t zoom into a state to find out more details for your area. too bad, so sad.
I wonder if this data can be scaled to population density. So far, it’s hard to tell anything for urban areas.