Make us your home page  Sizing up the post-recession job market
Six and half years later, nearly everything about the job market
is different. When the Great Recession hit in December 2007,
138.4 million people were working at U.S. businesses, nonprofits
and government agencies. By February 2010, that figure had
cratered to 129.7 million. Fifty-one months later, the economy
is back to 138.5 million jobs, the government said Friday.
Consider what's changed.  Workforce exodus  The economic storms
of the past several years have driven many to the sidelines.
Just 62.8 percent of those 16 and older are part of the
workforce, which includes people who either have a job or are
looking for one. That's the lowest level in 35 years.   But much
of the exodus has occurred because more Americans have become
discouraged about their job prospects. The government doesn't
count people as unemployed if they aren't actively looking for
work. Nearly 700,000 people were classified by the government as
"discouraged" in May. That'