The [un]employment report headline numbers were ugly, but the internals are even less encouraging ... Employment-Population Ratio Click on graph for larger image in new window. This graph shows the employment-population ratio; this is the ratio of employed Americans to the adult population. Note : the graph doesn't start at zero to better show the change. The general upward trend from the early '60s was mostly due to women entering the workforce. This measure fell in October to 58.5%, the lowest level since the early '80s. The Labor Force Participation Rate fell to 65.1% (the percentage of the working age population in the labor force). This is also the lowest since the mid-80s. When the job market starts to recover, many of these people will reenter the workforce and look for employment - and that will keep the unemployment rate elevated for some time. Part Time for Economic Reasons From the BLS : The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in October at 9.3 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find...