Recent employment reports have underscored how seriously the U.S. economy has been affected by the now year-old recession. Since December of last year, the economy has shed 2.8 million private sector jobs and the national unemployment rate spiked to 7.2 percent. Many states have particularly distressed levels of unemployment: the unemployment rate is at or above 10.0 percent in Rhode Island and Michigan, and greater than or equal to 8.0 percent in South Carolina, California, Nevada, Oregon, North Carolina, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia. Since December 2007, the unemployment rate has risen in every state and the District of Columbia and by as much as 4.8 points, in the case of Rhode Island.