Just when it looked like the job market was going to rebound, recent unemployment numbers revealed a disappointing reality.

The official US unemployment rate hovers around 8.6 percent (8.5 % as of today), but a better measure of the real jobless rate is called the “U-6” which stands at 15.6 percent (15.2 percent as of today).

President Barack Obama took office in January 2009 after having campaigned on the broad promise of "hope" and "change." However, to stay in office, there is one thing President Obama should hope for: an improvement in the employment picture before the 2012 elections.

The recent improvement in payrolls and the unemployment rate are welcome news, but the plight of the long-term unemployed in the United States is considerable. The policies that have been executed since mid-2008 to foster an economic recovery have failed to deliver measurable results, and those most hurt by the current downturn are often the long-term unemployed.

The powder keg underlying explosive discontent in the Arab Middle East was – and remains -- the disconnect between the economy and the system of higher education.

The American economy is experiencing a crisis in long-term unemployment that has enormous human and economic costs.

America's version of capitalism has been much more dynamic than Europe's. Why don't Obama and Romney debate that?

The employment rate has fallen farther and faster in this recession than at any time in the last thirty years and it continues to drop.